UEFA has met the clubs taking part in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 to explain the video assistant referee (VAR) system to be used in the competition's knockout phase this spring.
UEFA invited representatives of the 16 clubs remaining in this season’s competition - coaches, coaching staff and club delegates - to a meeting in Frankfurt to brief them on the system, which is designed to help referees in their decision-making process. VAR is being introduced in the UEFA Champions League from next week following successful technological testing and the training of referees over the last few months. The system, incorporated into the Laws of the Game last year, sees a video assistant referee review decisions made by the referee in certain key match situations with the use of video footage and a headset for communication.
Coaches and senior representatives from the Champions League Round of 16 participants took part in a presentation from UEFA’s Chief Refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti, who advised them about the workings of the system, in which a VAR team – a video assistant referee, an assistant video assistant referee and two video operators – will be located at each stadium to support the referee and help the match official take correct decisions.