UEFA Champions League to use VAR from knockout stages

UEFA will fast-track the implementation of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) for the knockout stages of its Champions League this season, its president Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday.

The European football governing body had opted against using VAR this season.

This was in spite of the technology being employed by major European leagues in Europe and the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia this year.

But Ceferin said recently that a report being prepared by UEFA’s referees chief could allow its Executive Committee to revise its stance.

It also agreed on Monday to roll out the technology in this season’s Europa League final and next June’s finals of UEFA’s new Nations League competition.

“To be very straightforward with you, we discussed with our colleagues. If we can do it before, why wait because it’s hard to afford any mistakes,’’ Ceferin told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of the Executive Committee in Dublin.

UEFA referees chief Roberto Rosetti said UEFA would use the same protocol as other associations but would seek in its guidelines to define the line of intervention clearly.

“We are speaking about consistency and uniformity. The communication is another key part of the project.

“We have to be very clear and communicate in the best way to the fans, players and coaches,” Rosetti said.