Fifa finally approves video assistant referees for 2018 Russia World Cup

• ‘We are going to have first World Cup with VAR,’ Fifa president says
• Fifa to train 36 referees, plus assistants, for World Cup duty

Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, said he was ‘extremely happy’ that VAR has been approved to help referees at the Russia World Cup. Photograph: Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EPA

Fifa has finally – and fully – approved video review to help referees at the Russia World Cup. The last step towards giving match officials video assistance in Russia was agreed to on Friday by Fifa’s ruling council. ‘We are going to have our first World Cup with VAR,” the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said. “It has been approved and we are extremely happy with that decision.”

It comes two weeks after Fifa’s rule-making panel voted to write video assistant referees into the laws. That move still left competition organisers with the option to use video review in their games, and Fifa’s ruling committee had to sign off on the World Cup decision.

Reinhard Grindel, a Fifa council member, wrote on Twitter that clear communication will be important to make the system a success – something that was promised on Friday by Infantino.

Referees will be able to call on VAR to review and overturn “clear and obvious errors” plus “serious missed incidents” involving goals, penalty awards, red cards and mistaken identity.

Infantino acknowledged two weeks ago that VAR is “not perfect” after the rules panel met in Zurich.

In 18 months of trials worldwide, including at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, Bundesliga and Serie A, reviews have often been slower than promised and communication has been unclear in the stadiums.

Controversy has been stirred even by the most experienced VAR officials who have handled many more games than most referees who will work at the 64-game World Cup.

A total of 36 referees, plus their teams of assistants, are being trained by Fifa for World Cup duty and many come from countries that do not use video review in domestic games.

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