Infantino: 'Nothing is standing in the way of using VARs' at World Cup

Away from the controversy of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and the overdue publication of the Garcia Report, video assistant referees are helping to shine a positive light on FIFA.

Speaking at a news conference in St. Petersburg, FIFA president Gianni Infantino supported the use of video assistant referees at the 2018 World Cup and said the Confederations Cup would be subject to more injustice without the technology.

“Nothing is standing in the way of using VARs (at the World Cup), as far as I’m concerned,” Infantino declared, according to the Guardian. “So far it has been successful. “We are learning, we are improving, we are continuing the tests.”

Infantino stated: “Without the VARs, we would have had a different tournament. And a tournament which would have been a little less fair.” The bald president added: “We need to work still on some of he details, on the communication and the speed of the decisions being taken.”

At the Confederations Cup, two video assistant referees are assigned to each game to support the referees’ decision-making process. They are used in four match-changing situations and aim to provide “minimum interference with maximum benefit.”

By FIFA’s count, video assistant referees corrected six game situations so far at the Confederations Cup. The technology caused controversy in a number of matches, including Germany’s 3-1 victory over Cameroon, in which two reviews were needed after a red card was shown to the incorrect footballer. Chile’s 2-0 win against the Indomitable Lions also had controversial moments, as La Roja was denied of a goal that appeared legitimate before an offside decision was overturned.