The European Football Association (UEFA) is preparing to make an important amendment to the mechanism for dealing with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, in a move aimed at unifying refereeing standards and reducing unnecessary interventions during matches.
In this context, UEFA has launched a new platform called “Clear Line”, which includes more than 150 different arbitration cases, with the aim of providing a unified reference for referees and video technology teams, and identifying situations that call for VAR intervention, versus cases in which the VAR should be maintained. The arena referee's decision.
Under the new approach, video technology intervention will be limited to errors that can be described as clear and evident, while review will not be resorted to in marginal cases or fine refereeing details that do not rise to the level of a clear error.
This approach confirms UEFA's desire to maintain the position of the arena referee as the primary decision maker on the field, provided that video technology remains a means to assist him and correct major errors, and not a tool to re-evaluate every decision or review all exciting shots. Controversial.
The European Union believes that the management of the match should remain the responsibility of the referee, and that the VAR room should not become the party controlling the course of the match. Therefore, it tends to reduce the stops and reviews resulting from cases that do not involve a clear refereeing error.
This trend reflects UEFA’s adoption of a more conservative policy in the use of video technology, different from the approach followed by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) during the last World Cup, in light of the European Union’s desire to achieve a balance between benefiting from technology and maintaining the authority of the arena referee. And smooth matches.