VAR what?
The 2019/20 Super League season starts today, with the Video Assistant Referee joining the action. How does the VAR work?
When Sion and Basel kick off the new Super League season today, eyes will not only be on the Tourbillon, but also on Volketswil. There, the Video Assistant Referee VAR will be used in the Video Operation Room VOR. Or simply put, the video referee. The Swiss Football Association has invested 1.5 million francs in developing the technology and training the staff. A further 1.5 million per season is spent on monitoring the matches.
What happens behind the scenes during a match
The VAR team, three people in total, work in the Video Operation Room: The so-called VAR, the AVAR and the Replay Operator. In other words, the video referee, his assistant and a technician. These people interact with the referee on the pitch. However, they only intervene if the referee has made a clear mistake. The three people in Volketswil listen to what the referees are communicating with each other in the stadium at all times. If there is an obvious mistake, they intervene.
This changes for the referee
If the case is clear, the referee revises the decision immediately. In case of doubt, he can look at the scene again in the Referee Review Area (RRA) in the stadium and reassess it. However, the referee can also actively seek video assistance if he is not entirely sure about a decision.
The VAR can be used in the following four scenarios:
- Goals and offences preceding a goal
- Penalty decisions and offences that precede a penalty
- Incidents in connection with direct sending-offs
- Player mix-ups
A huge error in judgement that will be talked about for years to come should no longer occur in future. For the referee, the VAR is like an airbag that deploys when an obvious mistake is made. "We worked intensively for 10 months and did more than was required. We assume that we are ready," Hellmut Krug told SRF. The former top German referee is the VAR project manager for Switzerland.
However, as experience has shown, for example during this year's Women's World Cup, there will always be heated discussions with the VAR during a match.
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