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

“We need to live with the times,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

“We wanted to give the referees tools so they can make better decisions, and in the World Cup some very important decisions are made.”

He added: “It’s not possible that in 2018 everyone in their living room knows a few seconds after the play whether a referee has made a mistake and the referee doesn’t.”

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

The system was described as “comical” and “embarrassing” after Tottenham’s 6-1 FA Cup win over Rochdale in late February, when a goal was disallowed and a converted penalty overturned.

The Premier League is not expected to introduce VAR next season, and Uefa has already said it will not be used in the 2018-19 Champions League.

Spain’s La Liga and France’s Ligue 1 are to introduce it from next season, while the Bundesliga will decide on 22 March.

“I was sceptical at first, but without trying you cannot know what it’s worth,” Infantino added.

“Without VAR, a referee can make one important mistake every three matches. With VAR, the figures we have seen from the trials that have been held show that a big mistake is made once every 19 matches.”

The world governing body’s formal announcement comes after the International Football Association Board (Ifab) “unanimously approved” the introduction of VAR on a permanent basis earlier this month.

Ifab is made up of Fifa and the Football Associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Each FA has one vote to Fifa’s four, with six votes required for a change in the laws.

The body made the decision to approve the technology following the results of independent analysis conducted by Belgian university KU Leuven.

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Source: BBC

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Hawk-Eye says a “technical error led to an incorrect graphic being provided”.

Mata said “the decision was not very clear”, while United boss Jose Mourinho called for the video assistant referee (VAR) system to be made “perfect”.

The system is being trialled in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season.

It was praised after correctly overturning a decision to rule out Kelechi Iheanacho’s strike for Leicester in their 2-0 FA Cup third-round replay win over Fleetwood in January.

However, it was also described as a “shambles” by former England captain Alan Shearer after the system’s use failed to result in a penalty for Chelsea during their FA Cup replay with Norwich.

On Saturday, Mata appeared to have put Manchester United 2-0 up just before the break when he ran on to Ashley Young’s neat pass – but while the visiting team was celebrating, referee Kevin Friend listened to his earpiece for the VAR input.

After a wait of around a minute, the goal was ruled out for offside, with viewers watching the match live on BT Sport then presented with the faulty graphic.

Hawk-Eye’s statement read: “A technical error led to an incorrect graphic being provided by Hawkeye to BT Sport on Saturday.

“To confirm, the VAR saw the correct image with the correct lines to make the decision. This was a case of the wrong image being provided to the broadcaster and we apologise.”

Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku scored in each half for United.

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Source: BBC

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Ovidiu Hategan ruled that Corry Evans blocked a shot with his arm during the first leg, despite replays showing the ball struck the player’s shoulder.

“It was a sad and unpleasant moment for me, sad because I made that mistake,” said Hategan.

The Romanian will not be used as a referee at the World Cup in Russia.

World governing body Fifa has released the list of 36 match referees who will take charge of matches at this year’s tournament and Hategan has accepted that his decision during the first leg at Windsor Park may have played a factor in his omission.

“Unfortunately I’m not among the 36, but I’ll see if I’m going to be a video referee,” he told Romanian media.

“Surely it has had a big influence and what happened in the play-off game. It’s not a secret and I’m not hiding behind words.

“In our world, the referees are the same as the goalkeepers – everyone sees the mistake.

“I’ve got over that moment, I’m a strong man. My family were there for me.”

Swiss defender Ricardo Rodríguez scored the spot-kick to secure the only goal of the play-off, which ended Northern Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for Russia.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill called for the introduction of video technology after the first-leg defeat.

“It’s just staggering in this day and age when the stakes are so high that something like that is a game-changer,” O’Neill said after the game.

“It [a VAR] should be used for anything that is a defining decision, which is clearly what we saw.

“A penalty given in those circumstances, a VAR would have cleared it up and said it’s clearly not a penalty.”

The Irish FA, one of the five members of the law-making body, the International Football Association Board, subsequently called for the use of video technology in competitive internationals.

“The video arbitrage will bring improvements,” added Hategan.

“You have seen the results in other championships, but discussions will always be a lot of talk but I am firmly convinced that those big mistakes will be eliminated.”

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Source: BBC

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