How VAR Works at the Women's World Cup
The Women's World Cup is here, and the video referee system will be used for the first time this summer at the tournament.
27 referees and 47 assistant referees make up the team that will support match officials during all 52 matches. The VAR team is located in Paris and will have access to broadcast cameras to aid in the decision-making process to help the video assistant referee, who makes the final call.
VAR is used in four game-changing scenarios: goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity.
Referees can review video footage on the side of the field for goals when a foul is committed by an attacking player or in incidents of offside interference. They can also look at footage for penalty decision when a foul leads up to a penalty or for fouls for attacking a player, as well as all red card incidents.
Referees can accept information from assistants for offside positions or balls out of play leading up to goals, along with all cases of mistaken identity. The same can be done in penalty decisions when a foul is committed inside or outside the penalty area and balls out of play or offside positions leading up to penalties.
In the tournament's first match, France's Wendie Renard jumped high in the 27th minute to head the ball into the path of Griedge Mbock Bathy, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net. VAR determined Bathy was offside–by the slimmest of margins–and the score remained 1–0 over South Korea. Renard wound up scoring less than 10 minutes later as part of a 4-0 win.
