The world governing body, FIFA has this month begun a trial of the on-pitch live-communication of decisions made by Video Assistant Referees (VAR) which is set to be utilized at this summer's Women's World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand.
At last month's Annual Business Meeting of the rule-making body in soccer, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), a decision was made to approve a 12-month trial of this change in the Laws of the Game. This followed up on the recommendations made by its Football and Technical Advisory Panels in October 2022.
VAR was first used at a senior international tournament during the men's World Cup in Russia in 2018. Although referees often explained what was seen on the monitors to the players on the field, fans in the stadium were not informed why decisions were made beyond a display on the stadium scoreboard.
It is hoped that with this trial will make VAR interventions more understandable for spectators with decisions now to be instantly relayed by the match referee wearing a microphone to the public, both in the stadium and via broadcasters.
The live communicating of VAR decisions is being utilized at this month's men's FIFA World Club Cup in Morocco which began on February 1. Should this first trial be successful, it is then likely to be implemented at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia this May with the world governing body not ruling out its first use at a senior World Cup at the women's tournament played in Australia and New Zealand from this July.
Speaking to FIFA.com, chairman of the FIFAâs Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina said, "we decided to have this trial because we received some requests to make the decision taken by the referee after a VAR intervention more understandable for all the football stakeholders, namely the spectators at the stadium, or in front of the television".
Collina admitted there may be teething problems initially with the new system. "It's the first time we're doing it, so certainly it might not be perfect at the very beginning but I'm confident that the outcome will be positive. Our objective it to protect the referees, so to not make their job too difficult, to not put too much extra pressure on them. That's why it's only once the decision has been taken that the communication will start."
The explanation of calls is something that is commonplace in many American sports such as the National Football League (NFL) as Collina went on, "I have to say that there are other experiences in other sports, namely the NFL in American football, who have been doing this for quite a long time. It seems that the referees are pretty comfortable with this. Depending on the outcome, certainly there might be the possibility of having this at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but I think it's better to wait and see the outcome of the trials in the other competitions before saying anything in that regard."
VAR was used at the Women's World Cup for the first time in 2019, most notably at the semi-final between England and the United States, a match remembered for several close calls and eventually won 2-1 by the reigning champions. An equalizing goal for the Lionesses scored by Ellen White was initially awarded but then overturned by VAR on a hairline offside decision which left some spectators bemused.
Last month, FIFA also announced that the adidas OCEAUNZ, the official match ball of the 9th FIFA Women's World Cup will be integrated with connected ball technology & artificial intelligence that will provide precise ball data and information to help VAR to optimize decision-making.
A Suspension System in the centre of the ball hosts and stabilises a 500Hz inertial measurement unit (IMU) motion sensor, providing unprecedented insight into every element of the movement of the ball. The sensor is powered by a rechargeable battery, which can be charged by induction.
However, VAR, in any form, is not yet used in women's domestic leagues such as the English Women's Super League. The prohibitive cost of installing the many cameras required to make it work making it currently nonviable across the many smaller grounds which play host to games across the league.
Even in the UEFA Women's Champions League, VAR is only used from the knockout stages onwards when clubs are incentivized to move their games to their main club grounds which already have the necessary technology implemented for their domestic men's matches.
33 female referees, 55 female assistant referees and 19 Video Match Officials (VMOs) have been appointed as part of 'FIFA Team One' to officiate at the first 64-game FIFA Women's World Cup beginning on July 20. Last month, the officials, many of whom are not yet fully professional within their own countries, attended the first of three preparatory seminars ahead of the tournament in Doha which included VAR simulations and theory sessions.
