FIFA has approved the use of video assistant referees (VAR) at this summer’s World Cup, following in the footsteps of La Liga.
“We need to live with the times,” said FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.
“We wanted to give the referees tools so they can make better decisions, and in the World Cup some very important decisions are made.
“It’s not possible that in 2018 everyone in their living room knows a few seconds after the play whether a referee has made a mistake and the referee doesn’t.
“I was sceptical at first, but without trying you cannot know what it's worth. Without VAR, a referee can make one important mistake every three matches.
“With VAR, the figures we have seen from the trials that have been held show that a big mistake is made once every 19 matches.”
VAR was first used at the Club World Cup in December 2016 and trialled at the 2017 Confederations Cup.
Since then, it has been adopted by Serie A, Bundesliga and the FA Cup in England, yielding mixed results.
