Pierluigi Collina wants officials to keep their flags down on tight offside calls.GETTY IMAGES
Fans inside the World Cup stadiums "will be shown replays of incidents requiring video assistant refereeing decisions to reduce the confusion that has reigned during trials of the technology in England and other domestic leagues," according to Martha Kelner of the London GUARDIAN. Supporters at the tournament in Russia will be "shown clips of the passage of play that was under revision but only once the referee has made his decision and play has restarted." FIFA Referees Committee Chair Pierluigi Collina said that the "problems with lengthy delays during trials had been ironed out." Collina also said that assistant referees had been "advised to keep their flag down for tight offside calls and to leave it to VAR to decide." Collina said, "If you see some assistant referee not raising the flag, it's not because he's making mistakes. It's because he's respected the instruction to keep the flag down. They were told to keep the flag down when there is a tight offside incident and there could be a very promising attack or a goal-scoring opportunity because, if the assistant referee raises the flag, then everything is finished" (London GUARDIAN, 6/12). The BBC reported the VAR -- a current or former top referee -- is "in place to check decisions on four sorts of incidents." The referee can "accept the information relayed through his earpiece by the VAR team, an option usually reserved for objective calls of fact, such as if a player is offside." For more "subjective decisions such as red cards and penalty-area fouls, he can review the footage on a pitchside television monitor before deciding whether to change his initial call" (BBC, 6/12).
STAY COOL: In London, Martyn Ziegler reported VARs will "wear an official kit as opposed to civilian dress in their Moscow control room during the World Cup because they sweat so much owing to stress." Collina said that wearing the kit would also make VARs "feel part of the game." Collina said, "The video match officials will be in front of the television sweating with the stress. It's not possible to go there like a clerk with shirt, tie and jacket. They are doing something stressful and that's why we want them wearing the dress code." FIFA Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca said that delays to the games by use of VARs were "peanuts" when set against "the importance of getting decisions right." Busacca said, "We will not be perfect but we are looking for uniformity and consistency -- but it cannot be 100%. It will always be a human interpretation. I am convinced that the scandals of the past we will not see again" (LONDON TIMES, 6/13).
EXTRA TIME: In London, Jordan Seward reported referees at the World Cup will wear specifically-developed Hublot watches, "designed to assist them with VAR." The unique edition -- which is limited to '18 pieces and "features 32 dials inspired by the flags of the participating countries in this summer's tournament" -- will be connected to goal-line technology and an electronic video assistance system. The watch was "discreetly tested" on the wrist of referees several times during the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup last year and will be used by every referee in every game of the tournament. The application "features several notifications" and announces matches 15 minutes before their kickoff, as well as yellow and red cards, player changes and goals. It also "vibrates, displaying the word GOAL instantly every time a goal is scored" (London DAILY MAIL, 6/13).
