Santosh Trophy turns into first home match to function VAR

Two officers from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) – Khaled Alturis and Faisal Alkhatani – oversaw the match as VARs and assistant VARs.

However, match referee Mohammed Al Daqqash didn’t have a single alternative to make use of VAR through the contest.

The semi-finals for the Santosh Trophy, the third-place match and the ultimate of the nationwide soccer championship are being performed in Saudi Arabia, a primary within the match’s historical past.

The Punjab and Services participant thus grew to become the primary Indian footballer to play underneath VAR.
VAR approach has been used twice earlier than on Indian soil. It was used from the quarter-final stage through the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in January–February 2022. The Indian crew, which certified for the match as hosts, did not make it to the quarter-finals as COVID-19 affected a lot of its gamers after enjoying only one match.

VAR know-how was additionally used through the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October final yr.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) common secretary Shaji Prabhakaran stated VAR was used through the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup from the knockout stage onwards. India didn’t qualify for the knock-out stage.

VAR was used through the males’s 2019 AFC Asian Cup within the UAE from the quarterfinal stage onwards, however India exited within the group stage.

VAR know-how helps the referee’s decision-making course of in 4 game-changing conditions: objectives and offenses resulting in a aim, penalty selections and offenses resulting in penalties, straight crimson card incidents, and misidentification.

During a match, the VAR crew frequently checks for clear and apparent errors associated to those 4 match-changing conditions.

The VAR crew solely communicates with the referee for clear and apparent errors or severe missed incidents. But in the end it’s the on-field referee who will take the decision whether or not he wants assist from VAR or not.