The Italian Pierluigi Collina, one of the best referees in history and now FIFA’s top official in charge of refereeing, said this Monday that the ‘trial balloon’ experience to be carried out at the Club World Cup, taking place in Morocco until on the 11th of this month, the VAR decisions being explained in real time aims to make the phenomenon of some interpretations that provoke reactions contrary to the fans «be more understandable for the spectators».
“We decided to carry out these tests after receiving some requests to make the decision that the referee takes, after a VAR intervention, more understandable to all interested parties, and especially to those who are watching at the stadium or on TV”, said the former most famous referee in the world, mentioned on the FIFA website, about what has already been seen in three of the competition’s matches, played in Rabat and Tanger (Morocco)… and with multilingual translation, not only in Arabic but also in English and French, also.
Remember that it was on January 18th that the International Board [International Football Association Board, IFAB] determined that explanations of VAR decisions be, for a period of one year, explained to everyone in real time, as has been common practice for years, for example, in the USA and in league games of ‘American football’ (National Football League , NFL).
′′ The referees are feeling quite comfortable with the measure. In football, language can be a problem, even and especially when you have to announce [o porquê de uma decisão] in a language that is not your mother tongue. It may not be easy. As the announcement will be concise, I trust that the referees will feel comfortable”, said Collina.
Real-time explanations of VAR decisions to those watching will also be tested at the U-20 World Cup, scheduled for May in Indonesia, and at the Women’s World Cup, from July 20 to August 20, in Australia and New Zealand – a competition in which Portugal could still be among the 32 finalists, if it wins, on the 22nd, in Hamilton (New Zealand) the meeting of a third and final qualifying ‘play off’, against the winner of Cameroon-Thailand.
