Video assistant referees will be used during this season’s UEFA Champions League knockout phase, UEFA announced Monday. The UEFA Executive Committee made the decision following successful testing of the technology and training of referees over the last few months.
The 16-team knockout phase will begin Feb. 12, 2019. UEFA also announced that VAR will be used for this season’s Europa League final in Baku, the Nations League Finals in Portugal, and the European Under-21 Championship in Italy. Earlier comments from the European soccer governing body suggested UEFA would wait until the 2019-20 season to adopt VAR. However, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announced in November that UEFA was considering implementing VAR for this season.
“We are ready to use VAR earlier than initially planned and we are convinced that it will be beneficial for our competitions as it will provide valuable help to match officials and will reduce incorrect decisions,” Ceferin said in Monday’s press release.
Soccer leagues throughout Europe have started to use VAR. Spain’s La Liga began using the technology after the 2018 World Cup. Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the A-League, and MLS also use video assistant technology. The Premier League recently announced it would adopt VAR next season.
SportTechie Takeaway
VAR’s expansion into all major soccer leagues was expected after the technology improved refereeing calls at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Though in addition to some positive feedback, the review system has also experienced significant glitches. There was a technical malfunction in the Australian soccer championship, and the German Bundesliga reported several issues with VAR during the 2017 season.