System to be trialled during showpiece tournament in Colombia
Trial follows successful test at Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup™
Football video support in line with FIFA’s commitment to taking the lead on the use of technology to support referees
FIFA has informed the 24 teams participating in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024™ about the use of football video support (FVS) at the tournament, which will kick off on 31 August and take place in the Host Cities of Bogotá, Cali and Medellín.
FVS, which is a simplified alternative to the video assistant referee (VAR) system, is to be used on a trial basis during the competition, as FIFA continues to drive the use of technology to support referees. The implementation of FVS at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ follows the successful initial trial at the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup™ in Zurich, Switzerland, in May.
“Football video support is an answer to the request to provide football with a more affordable technology and confirms FIFA’s commitment to taking the lead on the use of technology for the benefit of match officials,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.
“FVS can be used to review the same kind of incidents as those covered by VAR, but the two systems cannot be compared as they are designed to be implemented in completely different circumstances. The outcome of the trial at the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup, involving 36 matches and two pitches, was very positive and we are happy to trial this system further in Colombia.”
Unlike the VAR set-up, which has already been used in over 200 individual competitions spanning 65 member associations, FVS does not use dedicated video match officials and therefore does not automatically check all match-changing incidents. Instead, the onus falls on the two head coaches, who are allowed to make a limited number of review requests per match when they feel there has been a clear and obvious error in match-changing incidents such as goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, direct red cards or mistaken identity.
To make a review request, the coaches will be required to give a card to the fourth official immediately after the relevant incident to avoid unnecessary delays and to conform with the Laws of the Game, which do not allow a decision to be changed once play has restarted.
The Football Video Support Protocol to be used at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024 is available here.