VAR to debut in Champions League round of 16 tonight
UEFA has stuck to its plans of introducing the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) from the Champions League round of 16. Starting with tonight's matches between Roma and Porto, and Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, UEFA will be using VAR. Earlier, it was scheduled to be introduced from the 2019-20 season, but pressure from top clubs has made UEFA bring it in early. Details follow.
Juventus had lobbied intensively for the introduction of VAR
European giants Juventus were the loudest campaigners in VAR's favor, with their chairman Andrea Agnelli saying, "We cannot go back, we want VAR to be adopted in UEFA competitions as soon as possible". Last season, Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League after a controversial penalty decision went against them during a match against Real Madrid. Even Ronaldo was red-carded questionably this season.
Pep Guardiola has welcomed the decision with open arms
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has also been positive about the introduction of VAR in the Champions League, despite the EPL being the only top European league to not introduce VAR. "Premier League is the last one, so sooner or later also here in England, it's going to happen," said Guardiola. He talked about the unfair penalty City were awarded against Shakhtar this season.
No centralized VAR team like in the World Cup
Roberto Rosetti, UEFA's chief refereeing officer, has said that unlike the World Cup, there will not be a single centralized VAR team who will be responsible for all the matches. Instead, the VAR teams will be stadium-wise, with each stadium having "VAR, an assistant-VAR, two operators and a UEFA official responsible to send the information outside," he added.
Most coaches did not attend meeting to discuss the situation
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin is furious with most coaches of top European clubs who failed to attend a meeting to discuss the situation regarding VAR in the Champions League. He said that it was a disrespect to the organization as only coaches from Juventus, Lyon, PSG, Roma and Schalke had attended the meeting. "Now they do not have any excuses," he said.
Which are the famous leagues using VAR?
Numerous notable football competitions throughout the world have taken to using the Video Assistant Referee, including the Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy), Major League Soccer (United States), La Liga (Spain), and the A-League (Australia).
