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VAR: Uefa will not use system in next season's Champions League

Last updated on .From the section European Footballcomments148

How does VAR work?

Video assistant referees (VAR) will not be used in next season's Champions League, with the head of Uefa saying he sees "a lot of confusion".

The International Football Association Board, which rules on the game's laws, meets on Saturday to decide whether to approve the technology permanently.

If it does, then Fifa is committed to using the system at the World Cup.

But Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said: "Fans see the VAR screen all the time but nobody knows how it works."

He added: "We will not use it in the Champions League next season.

"For me, it might be a good project but we shouldn't rush it."

An Ifab report last month said that the VAR system has been accurate in 98.9% of decisions so far during its two-year worldwide trial.

In England, VAR has been used in selected matches in the FA Cup. It has also been used in the Carabao Cup, where it featured in Sunday's final, with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger unhappy that it did not rule out Manchester City's second goal.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said on Monday that he continued to support the use of the system, which has been trialled across 20 competitions over the past two years, at this summer's World Cup finals in Russia.

He said: "If we, or I, can do something to make sure that the World Cup is not decided by a referee's mistakes, then I think it's our duty to do it."

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148 comments

  • Comment posted by John Prescott , at 17:53 26 Feb 2018

    Its not flawed. It clearly works, its the humans controling it that are messing it up.

  • Comment posted by User0784395559, at 18:24 26 Feb 2018

    Quelle surprise. UEFA like it just the way it is. Now where did I leave that brown envelope?

  • Comment posted by User0655414600, at 18:14 26 Feb 2018

    Bad call, VAR works and should be used, too many players cheat,,Sterling and Alli dive too much. Linesmen get offside wrong too many times Chelsea scored a good goal against MU ruled out. With the obscene amount of money in the game it should be in all divisions.

  • Comment posted by A_Hawke, at 18:15 26 Feb 2018

    If they can't make var work they should be sacked . Uefa so corrupt

  • Comment posted by User0532541719, at 18:11 26 Feb 2018

    VAR works fine - the person responsible for drawing the parallel lines needs sacking...

  • Comment posted by Alexandre LackOfThreat, at 18:03 26 Feb 2018

    It's not difficult to implement, use some common sense. Install a large screen in the stands at each stadium and when the referee wants a reveiw he makes a signal and it appears on the screen with multiple angles. That way he can make a decision on the spot without moving and also the crowd can see what is going on.

  • Comment posted by Wellwemakemistakes, at 18:04 26 Feb 2018

    And when a decision goes against your team.....too much is at stake for mistakes...and all this rubbish about wasting time well what about all those players surrounding the ref and that bollocks about half the 'fun' is the arguments... You're just frightened about not cheating your way to victory

  • Comment posted by Springfowl, at 19:03 26 Feb 2018

    VAR needs to be implemented differently. We have incidents that are watched and analysed by pundits for 5 minutes plus at a time and still inconclusive with a dozen different angles - there's no wonder there's significant delay getting an answer. It also does cause significant momentum loss and flow in a match.

  • Comment posted by User0126244157, at 19:32 26 Feb 2018

    "VAR: Uefa will not use system in next season's Champions League"

    Of course they won't!

    They want their 'favourites' to progress and won't be able to guarantee the 'results they want' if the system is used!

    Uefa, the only football organisation who make FIFA look honest!

  • Comment posted by pistol, at 18:02 26 Feb 2018

    yes we must scrape it, we must give managers the right to complain about decisions when they lose. Plus players and managers are dumb they don't know how the system works and run around waving imaginary TVs in the air. SO far i have enjoyed it, it works, we get the right decisions(god forbid!) we just need to speed it up

  • Comment posted by Houdi, at 18:19 26 Feb 2018

    4 These things take something away from the unpredictability of a match and spoil the fun.

    Of course, because everyone loves it when their team loses because of a dodgy decision. I'm sure the Germans loved losing the World Cup in 66 and had a nice old chinwag and laugh about Geoff Hurst's controversial goal. After all, it's only football. Why spoil all the fun by taking it seriously?

  • Comment posted by The Knowledge, at 19:58 26 Feb 2018

    Why does football have to be filled with secrecy? In rugby, everyone sees the replay on the big screen. In football, they don't even show goal replays in stadiums, just in case the ref's messed up. Corruption starts from the top.

  • Comment posted by User0387408010, at 19:46 26 Feb 2018

    Dele Alli will be fine then as he springboards into the penalty area

  • Comment posted by Houdi, at 20:38 26 Feb 2018

    Moat people think VAR is a good thing but that it has teething problems. The whole implementation of it has been very amateurish in comparison to other sports. Why does football always get it wrong?

  • Comment posted by Jaap_Stams_Brow, at 20:26 26 Feb 2018

    Hardly surprising. They wouldn’t be able to help UEFAlona and Real Madrid to the final with dodgy offsides, diving and soft red cards against opponents.

  • Comment posted by DMBTomp, at 20:44 26 Feb 2018

    Moaninho: "VAR is great, except when it's a decision that I think is wrong"

  • Comment posted by LuThe, at 18:15 26 Feb 2018

    "Fans see the VAR screen all the time but nobody knows how it works."

    So he's protecting us, we the great unwashed, because we're all so ignorant. Every morning we'll continue to pray to the great fireball that he allows to rise to give us warmth and light...

    Or maybe it's just a lot harder for the Ovrebo's on UEFA payroll to get the paid for results if video evidence is used.

  • Comment posted by Sparky, at 19:59 26 Feb 2018

    Fake Breaking news from UEFA, in an unofficial source, VAR won’t be used as we would hate to see the big teams go out in the first round making the uefa league cup look better, as these 80-20 decisions helping teams like real and Barca keep winning would stop

  • Comment posted by LE, at 20:23 26 Feb 2018

    Use VAR on captain's appeals say two per half similar to cricket

  • Comment posted by Fidgetwidget, at 20:09 26 Feb 2018

    No VAR? Good news for Barcelona and PSG.

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