FIFA’s Collina ready to bring unification to the worldwide use of VAR
ZURICH: World football federation wants to end the erratic application of video assistance around the football world by taking over centralised authority of the use of the system.
Up until now it has been t he responsibility of the law-making International Football Association Board to review the use of VAR over an initial two-year experimental phase.
Now that VAR is established it will be up to FIFA to try to unify its application and variations such as the English Premier League’s reluctance to allow its officials to use the pitch-side video screen. The Premier League has also not used VAR to check encroachment by goalkeepers at penalty kicks as expected.
Pierluigi Collina, the Italian former World Cup referee and chairman of FIFA’s referees’ committee, was quoted by Reuters as describing the transition as perfectly natural.
Collina said: “IFAB as an organisation has the duty to govern the laws of football, including VAR and the protocol and regulations. Once the laws of the game are set, IFAB’s job is over.
“It is then FIFA that deals with referees’ education around the world supporting all the member associations.
“Another responsibility of FIFA’s is to have the laws of the game implemented all over the world in the same way, there cannot be different implementation of the laws of the game in different continents or different countries. Our responsibility is to ensure that football is played in the same way all over the world.
“Can you imagine in international competition played by teams who are used to having different interpretations of the laws of the game in their domestic competition? Saying that VAR should be used in the same way all over the world is something obvious.
“Of course there can be some small differences, but the general implementation should be the same. It is FIFA and IFAB’s responsibility to have the game played the same way across the world, for the benefit of those who are playing.
“If something is written in the laws of the game, it has to be implemented everywhere, otherwise can you imagine the surprise of someone who is penalised for something in an international game that he is not penalised for at home?
“Maybe they would not be aware of what they can do? If something in the laws of the game doesn’t work, then it is discussed and eventually changed by IFAB,” he said.
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