Justice is coming to Concacaf. Finally. After several months in the Dark Ages, the soccer bosses of the continent are prepared to deploy VAR in the final stages of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Yes, you can roll your eyes. And yes, you know what this means: Concacaf will keep concacafing it, but now with the mighty assistance of technology. What a time to be alive!
VAR Available in Concacaf Qualifiers
Up to this point, Concacaf was one of three confederations in the world keeping the old-school refereeing methods, with Africa and Oceania being the other two. But after several complaints, controversies and horrific decisions, the Video Assistant Referee should be ready for use in the next round of WCQ games, scheduled for Jan. 27.
¡A medio Octagonal! Concacaf por fin usará el VAR rumbo a Qatar 2022 https://t.co/e0txayDYZZ
— MedioTiempo (@mediotiempo) January 6, 2022
Although the plan of Concacaf was always to implement VAR in 2022, according to the Mexican outlet Mediotiempo, the last impediments to introducing the technology were solved a couple of weeks ago, when FIFA increased the number of referees in the region with an international badge.
In Mexico, for example, the number of VAR referees with a FIFA badge went from five to six, while in Central America there are now several officials that can brag about their new status.
Another issue was about logistics. Last September, Concacaf said that five of the eights teams looking for a ticket to Qatar didn’t meet the criteria for installing VAR in their stadiums. However, Spanish company MediaPro, the same that generates the TV signal for broadcasting the games, will provide the much needed technology.
