Video assistant referee (VAR) demonstration at the 2018 FIFA World Cup (File Photo)
The world football governing body FIFA confirmed on Tuesday that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will make its debut in the forthcoming Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The prestigious championship, which was approved by FIFA after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was suspended for 11 days, will be conducted from October 11 to 30 in Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Stadium), Margao (J. L. N. Stadium), and Navi Mumbai (D. Y. Patil Stadium).
Match officials for the #U17WWC India 2022 appointed. VAR technology to be used for the first time at a U-17 FIFA women’s youth competition.
https://t.co/FgK3xhli1l pic.twitter.com/LtldE09cOp
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) August 30, 2022
“The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will give us important and significant insights into the qualities of the match officials who have been appointed. We are very happy that, also for the first time, VAR technology will be used at a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup,” said FIFA’s Head of Women Refereeing Kari Seitz.
“This event will be another great opportunity to showcase the skills of the appointed VARs and continue the development of our female VARs as part of the Road to Australia/New Zealand 2023 project,” she said in a FIFA statement.
How VAR works
The VAR technology supports the decision-making process of the referee in four game-changing situations: goals and offences leading up to a goal, penalty decisions and offences leading up to a penalty, direct red card incidents, and mistaken identity.
The VAR team regularly checks for clear and obvious errors relating to these four game-changing situations during a match. The VAR team only communicates with the referee when there are clear and evident errors or major missed situations.
Following the U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India will be the third FIFA women’s event to use VAR.
Referees and match officials announced
The FIFA Referees Committee also confirmed the tournament’s match officials, which include 14 female referees, 28 female assistant referees, three support referees, and 16 video match officials.
No referee from India
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will be represented by 14 officials from seven member associations, including referees, assistant referees, and video match officials. There are no Indians present.
Pansa Chaisanit of Thailand, Edita Mirabidova of Uzbekistan, and Oh Hyeon Jeong of Korea have been named as referees, marking their first appearances as major officials in a FIFA tournament.
They will be joined by assistant referees Supawan Hinthong and Nuannid Donjiangreed of Thailand, Joanna Charaktis of Australia, Kristina Sereda of Uzbekistan and Chinese duo Fang Yan and Xie Lijun.
In addition, five video match officials will help from the VAR room: Omar Mohamed Al Ali from the UAE, Hanna Hattab from Syria, Sivakorn Pu-Udom from Thailand, and Lara Lee and Casey Reibelt from Australia.
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