European refereeing chiefs have ordered video assistant referees to stop carrying out 'lengthy, microscoping reviews' and return to the system's original purpose of correcting only 'blatantly incorrect' decisions.
The directive came after a meeting of chief refereeing officers from all 55 European national football associations with Uefa refereeing officials and a representative from the International Football Association Board (Ifab). Attendees said the extended reviews indicated VAR had gone beyond its original scope.
“European refereeing chiefs order VAR to only intervene on 'blatantly incorrect' errors and end 'microscoping' reviews.”
When VAR was added to the laws of the game in 2018 by Ifab, its philosophy was 'minimum interference - maximum benefit', with the intention of reducing 'unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents' relating to goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.
'It was reiterated that, in accordance with protocol, VAR must only intervene in situations of 'clear and obvious' error, ie. when a referee decision is blatantly incorrect or when the referee has missed a clear incident,' Uefa said in a statement. 'VAR is not meant to re-referee the game, it is an essential support to the referees, who must remain at the centre of all decision-making. Lengthy, microscoping reviews are often a symptom revealing that the decision on the field was not clearly and obviously incorrect, and should therefore be limited.'
Officials also acknowledged recent clarification from Ifab around the correct interpretation of the 'mistaken identity' rule. Switzerland's Breel Embolo was the first player to be sent off as a result of the new law following a controversial second yellow card for simulation against Argentina; Leandro Paredes originally received a yellow card before VAR intervened. Ifab clarified that VAR can only review cautions to 'identify the player who committed the offence that was penalised, not to review or alter the offence'.
The meeting also registered 'unanimous support' for recent rule changes designed to reduce unnecessary delays, including time limits on goal-kicks, throw-ins and substitutions, and new regulations around on-field injuries and goalkeeper tactical timeouts.
