The role of the VAR is to assist the referee to determine whether there was an infringement that means a goal should not be awarded. As the ball has crossed the line, play is interrupted so there is no direct impact on the game.The selection criteria for the VAR Team was primarily based on their experience as Video Match Officials in their respective National Associations and Confederation competitions, in addition to their successful participation in several preparatory seminars and FIFA competitions.
The video assistant referee team supports the referee from a centralised video operation room (VOR), located in the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Moscow. All relevant camera feeds from the 12 stadiums are provided to the VOR through a fibre optic network. The referee on the field at each stadium talks to the VAR team via a sophisticated fibre-linked radio system.
The vote to approve the use of VAR was taken by the International Football Association Board after a two-year worldwide trial that included 972 matches in more than 20 leagues. Four representatives from Fifa and a representative from each of the home nations all agreed after a meeting that was slightly delayed, somewhat ironically given the common criticism of VAR.
Man reduced the number of serious officiating errors from one in every three games to one in every 19. The study also showed the average time taken for a VAR review is 55 seconds compared with the 8min 15sec lost per match to free-kicks.
