In charge of giving the final ok to video referees and other decisions taken at the 132nd meeting of the International Board, Gianni Infantino was happy to give his blessing to the much-maligned technology.
The FIFA president commented on the long journey to approval.
“It has been decided to give the ok to VAR, it’s already part of football, and it’s a historic change after two years of trials in different tournaments and in the competitions of 20 federations,” he said to reporters.
“It’s good for football because it will give more justice to the game. the rules of the game, and it’s a help to the referee.
“Communication with players and supporters must be improved so that they know what is being discussed, but it has been put to the test in about 1,000 matches around the world so far.
“On March 16 in Bogota, at the FIFA Governing Council meeting, the decision will be made for VAR to be at the World Cup.
“We can’t close our eyes to the technological world that surrounds us.”
The Premier League doesn’t seem to want VAR for next season, something similar to what’s happened in the Champions League.
Spain, however, will launch it from next August.
“We will see what decision the Premier League takes soon and the decision will be respected, but I don’t think that they are against it,” Infantino continued.
“VAR will have a positive impact on the World Cup, no doubt.
“Of the 1,000 matches analysed so far, the level of precision of the decisions taken without VAR reached 93 percent, meaning that there is a serious error in one out of every three games.
“With it, it was 99 percent correct, so this is reduced to only one error in every 19 matches; it is almost perfect.
“The referees have been training for two years, and their authority will not be questioned.”
Source: Marca
