VAR: regulation and meaning in football

Various meanings

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1 Various meanings

The Var System is a refereeing method currently used in the most important football competitions. It is composed of a referee on the field, a video assistant referee and a video assistant referee. The meaning of Var (male) is Video Assistant Referee and indicates the match official who analyses the videos.

The meaning of Avar is Assistant Video Assistant Referee and indicates the match official who assists the Var . The final decisions are up to the referee on the field. The Var , after some experiments by the FIGC , has been officially active in the Italian Serie A football championship since the 2017-2018 season.

Var Regulation

The VAR can intervene in these 4 situations which are defined as decisive for the outcome of the match:

action that determines a goal
action that determines the awarding of a penalty
action in which the direct expulsion of a player is sanctioned
obvious exchange of identities between players (in case of cautions or expulsions)

The referee, the VAR and the AVAR are in contact with each other via radio.

We indicate the three phases in which the decision to use the VAR system is made :

Phase A : Video assistance match officials inform the referee for an action to be reviewed
Phase B : Video assistance officers review the footage and explain what happened according to their vision
Phase C : the referee, before taking any decision, can review the images on a video located on the pitch.

The final decision is up to the referee on the pitch. No player, coach or team manager can request the use of the VAR . This last rule is currently under discussion. Our opinion is to allow the VAR to be called once per regulation time (2 times in the entire match) by an official from each team. In practice, the requests from the two teams can be, at most, 4 in total.

The 6 principles of the Var

The Video Assistant Referee system is based on 6 basic principles:

only clearly arbitrary errors can be rectified
the actions that led to penalties, goals, expulsions and mistaken identity between athletes are reviewed
the use of VAR must not limit or influence the referee operator
The match officials, in charge of the VAR , can inform the referee to check a play, but it is the referee himself who decides whether to do so or not.
no team member may ask the referee to review a given game situation. Penalty: warning.
The on-field match official may in exceptional circumstances ask to review a particular action.

When VAR intervenes

When watching a football match , we often wonder why the VAR does not intervene in certain situations. Let’s examine, together, when its use is allowed.

must intervene when the game is stopped and before the action resumes.
after observing the action on video, the referee must make a decision. If he finds a simulation, the match official on the field must caution the player.
In the event of goals, penalties and expulsions, the entire action must be reviewed.
The VAR checks and reports to the referee any incorrect actions by the players during the execution of the penalty.
If a free kick is awarded (later deemed unfair) and the VAR does not intervene immediately, the referee will not be able to cancel any goal or penalty resulting from it.

The VAR system , we repeat, is made up of a referee on the pitch (1), a video assistance match official (2) and an assistant (3) to the VAR (Avar).

The Var cameras

Clubs hosting a football match must provide a room where only the Harwk-Eve technology staff and the two match officials can enter. This room must be inside the stadium.

If this is not possible, the host club must prepare a location adjacent to the sports facility. This room is called the Video Operator Room . The home team must organize an additional location, where a video can be installed.

The computer must be set up on the pitch between the two benches and near the fourth official. This location is the Referee Review Area . The cameras installed for the Var are 12 and only the referees will be able to observe the images. The technology divides the playing rectangle into lines that allow to verify exactly the actions referred to the offside and whether the ball has gone out of the field or not. To know, instead, whether the ball has entered the goal or not, the goal line technology is used that establishes in an absolute manner the truth in the action.

Handball rules in VAR

The data indicates that VAR has significantly improved the refereeing process in matches:

80% of VAR interventions modified and corrected an incorrect assessment by the referee.
The 10% represent situations that are difficult to interpret and the decision taken may be considered doubtful.
10% find a wrong decision.

We must and want to have no doubts in the actions regarding offside that are examined with the help of the computer. Some doubts arise in the contacts between players in the penalty area. In these situations it is difficult to evaluate the extent of the contact and the player’s will to magnify the possible foul suffered. The evaluation for handballs, in our opinion, has worsened, as it does not protect the players and is not a guarantee of the result of the match.

Let’s analyze together what the VAR regulation indicates for handball :

calling a handball implies an intentional act (the hand goes towards the ball and not the other way around).
evaluate the distance between the player and the ball
assess whether the arms are close to the body or whether they are extended to hinder the trajectory of the ball.

With the new rules, made official in 2019, the handball takes on significant developments and interpretations that as a former player and sports professional I do not share.

In analyzing a handball, the referee must check whether the arms assume an unnatural position, whether the ball touches the hand after hitting a different part of the body, whether the touch occurs while the player is falling and whether the position of the arm in certain game situations is correct (jumping, sliding in, making a mistake in the tackle, etc.).

Frankly, the exasperation of the handball rule, provokes endless discussions and, in our opinion, will be reviewed soon.

For readers who are passionate about VAR , we recommend reading the types of bets regarding expulsion yes/no , penalty yes/no and use of VAR yes/no .

Where is VAR in use?

After an experimental and also very critical period, the Var was used for the first time in the 2017-2018 season in the Italian Serie A. Having observed the positive aspects of the new refereeing system, the Var was introduced in the play offs and play outs in Serie B. The 2018 World Cup, in Russia, was the most difficult test to pass. From this competition, the Var has been adopted in many tournaments.