Is it really worthy of a second look? Uefa would like to see VAR introduced in this season’s Champions League after being encouraged by its use during the World Cup in Russia.
According to The Times, European football’s governing body are aiming to bring in video assistant referees for the quarter-finals in 2019.
A committee will meet in Monaco next week and is expected to recommend approval for the system, with a final decision being made at the end of next month.
Uefa’s primary concern surrounding the use of technology was the number of officials it would require with several games being played on the same night.
However, the quarter-finals represent an opportune moment to test the system, with only one game per night.
VAR certainly left its mark on the 2018 World Cup as a controversial penalty was awarded to France in the final, but many were pleased with its overall impact on the tournament.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino was impressed with the tech during the summer.
He said: “VAR is cleaning football, making it more transparent and honest, helping referees to make decisions.
“95 per cent of decisions were already correct. Thanks to VAR we increased it to 99.32 per cent.
“Offside goals are finished in football, at least with VAR. You will never see an offside goal scored because with VAR you either are, or are not, offside.”
The French league voted in December to adopt VAR and the technology was tried out during the League Cup and French Cup.The ligue will use the video assistant referee (VAR) system in every game in the coming season, the French football federation said on Wednesday. The French league voted in December to adopt VAR and the technology was tried out in the later stages of the League Cup and French Cup and in the end-of-season promotion playoffs.
VAR was used at the World Cup in the summer and will be employed in similar situations in France. The system will be operated by two video officials supported by one or two technicians. At the World Cup, all VAR decisions were handled by a single “replay centre” in Moscow. The French plan to emulate that approach with a viewing facility in Paris, but that will not be ready until the second half of the season, at the earliest.