FANS could get to hear VAR advice to referees after football’s Lawmakers agreed the idea has merit.
Until now, the International FA Board has been staunchly against the concept of ‘live’ broadcasting of the conversations between match officials.
Fans could soon be able to listen in to referees talking with VAR officialsCredit: Getty
Fans of the Australian A-League have been able to hear the full exchanges after matches have finished, while Fifa replayed some of the match video at the end of the 2018 World Cup.
But now Ifab and Fifa have agreed the blanket ban must be looked at again, with Fifa President Gianni Infantino confirming: “This will be further discussed.”
And FA chief executive Mark Bullingham, who along with representatives of the other three Home Nations helps make up half of the Ifab board, confirmed the new direction of travel.
Bullingham said: “Through its technical panel, Ifab will look at whether audio should be released on VAR communications.
“It is recognised that this has helped other sports and also enhanced the fan experience.
“We will see how the arguments come out on that and we haven’t gone into details on a timeframe yet.
“But we are talking about giving the spectators, in the ground or at home, access to the conversations between the referee and the VAR.
“Most people have seen some of the Australian experiments and it’s similar to what you have in rugby and cricket.”
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He added: “Anything like that, which gives the fan insight into the decisions being made, is helpful to the fans and the referee, so it’s something that should be explored.
“Initially it was asked more about in the context of broadcasting the conversations on TV, but if you’re going to do that, why would you not explore ‘Ref Link’ and those type of options?
“Conceptually, it’s something people thought would be worth exploring and we absolutely could do that.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
