The International Football Association Board has given the go-ahead for the use of VAR for second yellow cards and corner kicks, but insists the move will not cause further delays.
Do you enjoy watching referees stare endlessly at the screen? You might be lucky (Image: )
A week after the six-minute farce at St James’ Park, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) met in London for its Annual Business Meeting (ABM). And guess what? IFAB has decided to expand the use of VAR in ABM. What the hell?
A press release after the meeting, chaired by Welsh Football Association chief executive Noel Mooney, said: “The ABM proposed that where there is clear factual evidence, video match officials should be allowed to consider a red card for a second yellow card that is incorrect.”
Well, the lack of clarity in this proposal is a worrying start. What is “clear factual evidence”? Probably the same as “clear evidence”. “Second yellow card that contradicts the facts”? What is it?
But semantics aside, the idea of a second yellow card being reviewed by VAR, as it will be at the 2026 World Cup, should send a shiver down the game’s spine. That’s wrong on a very basic level. Here are two simple scenarios.
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Player A receives a first yellow card which IFAB considers to be “factually incorrect” and then receives a second yellow card which is “factually correct” and is sent off. Player B received a first yellow card which was “factually correct” and then received a second yellow card which VAR determined was “factually incorrect” and was canceled by the video official.
How on earth is that fair? Both players had one yellow card that was “factually wrong” and both players had one yellow card that was “factually correct.” However, one person is ejected and the other is not. In whose mind can that be fair? IFAB seems to think so in their hearts.
In case you didn’t know, IFAB is an independent global body responsible for protecting, compiling and amending gaming law. Although generally referred to as an ‘international body’, the Board of Directors is made up of five members, including one representative from FIFA (Matthias Grafström), one representative from the Scottish Football Association (Ian Maxwell), one representative each from the Welsh Football Association, the Irish Football Association (Patrick Nelson) and the Football Association (Mark Bullingham).
There was a delay of around six minutes before Antoine Semenyo’s shot against Newcastle was dismissed (Image: Getty Images)
FIFA members hold four votes and each home association holds one vote. IFAB has a 21-member Football Advisory Board, which includes Arsene Wenger, Luis Figo, Daniel Amokachi, Paulo Wanchope and Dan Ashworth.
We also have a Technical Advisory Board, an Executive Support Office, and a Technical Subcommittee. And do they all think extending VAR powers is a good idea? I’m really confused.
The technical subcommittee includes FIFA’s head of referees, Pierluigi Colina, along with Mike Riley, Howard Webb and David Herreray, and is a strong supporter of the use of VAR to detect misjudged corner kicks.
And that will come true following confirmation from IFAB. “The ABM also proposed allowing competitions the option of having a video match referee referee a video match if a clearly incorrect corner kick is awarded, provided that restarting the match can be done immediately without delay.”
FIFA Secretary-General Pierluigi Collina calls for greater use of VAR (Image: Getty Images)
Let’s forget the word soup again. Either a corner kick was awarded by mistake or it wasn’t. If the ball hits the attacker’s hip and goes out, it is a goal kick. If the ball misses the attacker’s forehead and goes out, it is a goal kick.
It may take 1 minute to locate the first occurrence, but 2 seconds to locate the second occurrence. However, only one will be processed correctly.
And to be honest, we all know that this concept of faster VAR is a piece of cake, as all authorities, including IFAB, claim will happen in the future. The only thing that is clear about this latest VAR development is that some matches will become even more unwatchable.
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