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Thu, May

Football
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Video assistant referees are set to be used at this year's World Cup in Russia after football's lawmakers voted to approve the technology.

VAR has been tried in some domestic English cup games this season, and has been used in Germany and Italy.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) "unanimously approved" its introduction on a permanent basis after a meeting in Zurich on Saturday.

Leagues and competitions must now apply to IFAB to implement the technology.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said a decision on whether VAR will be used to the World Cup will be taken at a meeting on 16 March.

"As of today, video assistant refereeing is part of football," he said.

"We hope and encourage a favourable decision in this respect because we are very positive about VAR."

Despite Ifab's decision, the Premier League is not expected to introduce VAR next season, and Uefa has already said it will not be used in the Champions League next season.

France's Ligue 1 is to introduce it from next season.

IFAB said the "philosophy" of VARs is "minimum interference - maximum benefit" with the intention of reducing "unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents".

VAR was first used at the Club World Cup in December 2016, and trialled in the 2017 Confederations Cup.

 

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