Video Assistant Referee Trial in the Hyundai A-League
Hyundai A-League match officials are set to become the first in the world to use Video Assistant Referees in professional domestic league matches.
A historic IFAB AGM was held in March 2016 when a testing phase for Video Assistant Referees (VAR) was approved. Football Federation Australia made the decision to participate in the world first trial. The introduction of Video Assistant Referees in the Hyundai A-League is set to occur in Round 26 of the 2016/17 season.
Current and former Hyundai A-League match officials have been training as VARs since September 2016 using non-competitive practice matches, as well as ‘offline’ trials on Hyundai A-League matches.
The key principle of the VAR trial is to correct clear errors or serious missed incidents that result in match changing decisions. This is to ensure ‘minimum interference for maximum benefit’.
There is a strict protocol of what can and cannot be reviewed that must be followed by all participating countries. The four key decisions that can be reviewed are:
Red cards (direct red cards only)
Penalty incidents (awarded and missed penalty incidents)
Goals (fouls or incidents prior to the goal being scored)
Mistaken identity
The key question is not “Was the referee right?” but “Was the referee clearly wrong”.
You can read more about the protocol and VAR trial here: http://quality.fifa.com/en/VAR/#work
