FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ participants Denmark are among a number of nations to recently benefit from the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in their domestic competition, thanks to funding from the FIFA Forward programme. The process commenced in 2019 with VAR introduced over a period of time and it is now used in the Danish Superliga, and also the Danish Cup final, with future consideration for expansion to other competitions.
Michael Johansen, Head of Referees and Head of VAR at the Danish Football Union (DBU) said that FIFA have provided assistance at every level of the implementation process. “From our point of view, it was quite clear we could not implement VAR in Denmark without FIFA’s support, simply because the know-how and knowledge come from FIFA, the senior instructors [had participated] with VAR in many tournaments before joining our teams,” he said. “If we didn’t have that experience and knowledge, we would simply [take] a longer time, probably with lower quality. So, it was very important that we build up our own organisation with VAR and also have our own competences and FIFA will support it.”
Johansen says players and fans have benefitted from the number of errors that can be corrected by VAR. “We have found out that a clear refereeing mistake happens every three games and this is something that has a huge impact on the tournaments,” he said. “This is not only a statistic for Denmark, it is a general statistic that we can see top referees have a clear refereeing mistake every three matches. So, in the first season, we could already clearly see a lot of wrong decisions were corrected. “It’s very important that we continue this cooperation [with FIFA]. And, of course, we are very satisfied with it because I believe everybody wants the same purpose, which is to have a high-quality VAR and to have more just decisions.”
Four replay operators select and provide the best camera angles.
VAR
The VAR watches the main camera on the upper monitor and checks or reviews incidents on the quad-split monitor. He is responsible for leading the VAR team and communicating with the referee on the field of play.
AVAR1
The AVAR1 concentrates on the main camera and keeps the VAR informed about live play if an incident is being checked or reviewed.
AVAR3
The AVAR3 focusses on the TV programme feed, assists the VAR in evaluating incidents and ensures good communication between the VAR and AVAR2 located at the offside station.
AVAR2
The AVAR2 is an assistant referee located at the offside station. He anticipates and checks any potential offside situations to speed up the VAR check and review process.
Photos courtesy of Anders Kjærbye