VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee. It is a technology system that allows a team of officials in a remote video operations center to review major refereeing decisions using multiple camera feeds and frame-by-frame footage.
What VAR Reviews
VAR does not look at every call. It reviews only four categories of decision: goals and the build-up to them (including offside and handball), penalty kick decisions, direct red cards, and cases of mistaken identity where the wrong player is carded. Everything else — fouls, yellow cards, general play — is left to the on-field referee.
How It Works
When a potentially reviewable incident occurs, the VAR team in the video operations room reviews the footage automatically. If they find a clear and obvious error, they alert the on-field referee via earpiece. The referee can then either accept the recommendation and change the call, or walk over to the pitchside monitor to watch the footage themselves before making a final decision.
The Controversy
VAR has made refereeing more accurate but also more contentious. Goals are sometimes disallowed by centimeters after a three-minute review. The "clear and obvious error" threshold is interpreted differently by different referee teams, creating inconsistency. Fans in stadiums often wait through long silences unsure whether a goal will stand. Despite the debates, VAR is here to stay at the highest level.
VAR was introduced at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and has been used at every major tournament since. At WC26, VAR will cover all 104 matches. The semi-automated offside technology — which uses player tracking data to draw instant offside lines — will be used to speed up the review process.
