Fifa gives all clear to VAR at Russia World Cup

World football's governing body Fifa confirmed on Saturday that video assistant referee technology (VAR) will make its debut at the World Cup in Russia this summer. Fifa president Gianni Infantino gave the thumbs-up to the system after a meeting of the Fifa Council in Bogota.

The video assistant referee will help match offcials decide whether a penalty should be given. Reuters/Eddie Keogh

"We are going to have in 2018, for the first time, a World Cup with VAR," he said.

The decision was expected after the International Football Association Board - the organisation which oversees the rules of the game - agreed to the use of the technology two weeks ago.

"This has been approved and we are really very happy with this decision," Infantino added.

The World Cup takes place between 14 June and 15 July. The VAR will be employed to judge whether or not a goal has been scored, analyse whether a penalty should be awarded, decide on red cards and rectify if a player has been mistakenly sanctioned.

Referees' mistakes

"What we want is to help and to give the referee the possibility to have extra help when he has to make important decisions. In a World Cup we make very important decisions," added Infantino.

"It cannot be possible that in 2018 everybody, in the stadium or at home, knows in a few seconds if the referee has made a mistake but not the referee himself - not because he doesn't want to know about it but because we forbid him to know.

"The VAR is helping the referee and we are going to have a more transparent and fairer game, and that's what we want."

Uefa concerned

VAR has been trialled since 2016 by 20 federations, including Bundesliga matches in Germany and Serie A fixtures in Italy.

It has not been universally welcomed. Uefa - the European game's governing body - is still diffident about it.

"Nobody knows exactly how VAR will work," said Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin. "There is already a lot of confusion. I am not at all against it but we must better explain when it will be used. We will see at the World Cup."

Critics say the VAR takes too much time to reach decisions and the delay ruins the flow of a game.

"The intervention of VAR takes one minute on average in each game," said Infantino. "If we lose a minute to correct mistakes, I think we have done something good."