{"id":510932,"date":"2026-03-01T02:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510932\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T02:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:52:12","slug":"footballs-rulemakers-to-launch-review-of-var-and-plan-for-vinicius-law-laws-of-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510932\/","title":{"rendered":"Football\u2019s rulemakers to launch review of VAR and plan for \u2018Vin\u00edcius Law\u2019 | Laws of football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football\u2019s lawmaking authority, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), is to conduct a two-year review of the video assistant referee to ensure the technology is being used \u201cto its best\u201d. The announcement on Saturday came alongside a flurry of enhancements to the rulebook before the World Cup, including expanding the use of VAR into determining corner kicks.<\/p>\n

Another proposal could mean punishments for players obscuring their mouths being fast-tracked for implementation at this summer\u2019s tournament, after the alleged racist abuse of Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior<\/a> by Benfica\u2019s Gianluca Prestianni.<\/p>\n

The VAR review was confirmed by the technical director of Ifab, David Elleray, on the 10th anniversary of the decision to first trial video technology. \u201cWe have agreed today that after 10 years we should be reviewing VAR to see where we want to go with it in the future,\u201d Elleray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a very interesting debate over what direction VAR should go in because within football there are two contrasting philosophies: some that want as far as possible perfect decision making \u2026 and those who say we have to accept that refereeing errors are part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the outcome of any review, Ifab confirmed that VAR\u2019s powers are to be extended into three new areas. The first will give official permission to check and review any red card decision that comes from a \u201cclearly incorrect second yellow card\u201d. Second, they will be able to intervene when the referee punishes the wrong team for an offence.<\/p>\n

Finally, VAR will be able to review a \u201cclearly incorrectly awarded corner kick\u201d, albeit only under the condition that the review \u201ccan be completed immediately and without delaying the restart\u201d.<\/p>\n

VAR will now be able to review a \u2018clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick\u2019. Photograph: Sebastian Frej\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

All of these developments are to be in place by June and it is expected that Ifab will confirm new disciplinary measures related to discriminatory behaviour too. There is to be a fast-tracked consultation over incidents where players \u201ccover their mouth when confronting opponents during matches\u201d or \u201cunilaterally decide to leave the field of play as an act of protest\u201d as in the case of the Senegal national side during this year\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations final<\/a>. Both actions are likely to be punished with a yellow card.<\/p>\n

The first \u201csemi-live\u201d trial of VAR was conducted in 2016 during a men\u2019s international friendly between France and Italy. A decade later video technology is now embedded in the top echelons of the game but has driven widespread dissatisfaction due to delays in decision making and matches being determined by marginal outcomes.<\/p>\n

The English FA\u2019s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said it was key that rulemakers continued to innovate in their application of VAR. \u201cThere is a review going on looking at how we use VAR to its best,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at the innovations that Fifa have brought through, particularly in semi-automated offside, I think they\u2019re fantastic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe speed with which decisions are made, and the accuracy, takes a big amount of frustration away from fans. The other interesting area is looking at what can we learn from other trials being done? The football video support system gives the coach a challenge system. Are there elements of that we should consider adopting for the future? Because that reduces the amount of times when there is a VAR intervention and effectively puts the emphasis on the coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fifa referees committee chair, Pierluigi Collina, spoke at the AGM. Photograph: David Davies\/PA<\/p>\n

At the AGM in his role as chair of the Fifa referees committee, Pierluigi Collina encapsulated the first decade of VAR with a metaphor. \u201cIn Italy we are used to saying that, in every wonderful marriage, there is a crisis after seven years,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it might be possible that people fell in love with the VAR and then after some years, as with your wife, you have a small crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the extension of VAR protocols, the Ifab brought in new measures to tackle time-wasting and the disruption of tempo in matches. The successful introduction of the eight-second rule for goalkeepers has encouraged Ifab to go further on efforts to stop players slowing the game.<\/p>\n

Referees will be given the power to start a five-second countdown if they feel players are taking too long over throw-ins and dead-ball goal kicks, with the throw-in reversed or a corner kick the sanction for delaying. Substitutions must be completed in no more than 10 seconds, otherwise the substitute must stay off for at least one minute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Football\u2019s lawmaking authority, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), is to conduct a two-year review of the video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-510932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}