FIFA referees will announce VAR, video assistant referee, decisions over the loud speaker during games at the Women’s World Cup this summer, FIFA said in a news conference Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
How has VAR changed?
VAR was introduced at the Women’s World Cup in 2019, but memories of the execution were not overwhelmingly fond. Reviews were lengthy and goalkeepers were learning in real time how to approach penalty kicks lest they be penalized. To be fair, FIFA adjusted mid-tournament, and the process did get better by the time the knock-out stages hit, but it was not a clean first look at VAR at the Women’s World Cup.
Most of what we’ll see four years later will already be familiar, like lengthy stoppage time similar to what we saw in Qatar that allows for substitutions, celebrations and time wasting. But this is the first time we’ll get live, in-game announcements of VAR decisions like we see in the NFL.
FIFA has already tested it in the Club World Cup in Morocco and the U-20 World Cup in Argentina, but this is its biggest rollout yet. Hearing right from the match official in the moment will be a massive step up from a few words flashed on the screen, and while it might not stop displeased fans from making…
