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News

VAR Officially Approved For Women’s World Cup In Rare Show Of Common Sense From FIFA

By Travis Yoesting March 15, 2019
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Just as the men’s World Cup featured VAR for the first time, so too will the Women’s World Cup.
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It’s rare we get to do this, so let’s take a moment today to celebrate FIFA for having some common sense. Football’s world governing body confirmed the use of video assistant referees at this summer’s Women’s World Cup. The Women's World Cup VAR decision was made Friday, a month after FIFA trialed the technology with referees at the Al Kass Cup, a youth club competition. 

This will be the first time VAR is in use for a Women’s World Cup. 

The teams competing in France this summer will welcome the news of Women's World Cup VAR. Previously, USWNT coach Jill Ellis said it would be “insulting” if VAR wasn’t used for the women as it was for the men. 

VAR will work in the same way as it did for the 2018 World Cup, only used for cases of goals, penalty kicks, red cards and cases of mistaken identity. You can read more about how it works here. 

VAR was mostly viewed as a success at the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia. A few people complained about it taking too long or something silly like that and some luddites have been complaining about the use of VAR in the Champions League this year. But getting the call right should be the primary objective of all officiating decisions and VAR allows refs to get calls right more often.

The Women's World Cup VAR announcement comes 366 days after FIFA announced the use of VAR for the 2018 World Cup. In some respects, this is right on schedule. In others, after the successful implementation in Russia, you’d think it would’ve been an easier decision for the Women’s World Cup. 

But the decision has been made and it is the right one. The biggest tournament in the world deserves to give its referees the best possible chance to get the calls right. VAR will do that this summer in France.

For more on the Women’s World Cup, read our complete guide here. The full Women’s World Cup schedule can be found here.

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