VAR will be used at UEFA Nations League Finals this week as England boss Gareth Southgate hails video referees as positive thing
- Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used in this week’s Nations League Finals
- England, hosts Portugal, Holland and Switzerland will compete for the trophy
- The four head coaches were briefed on VAR use at a summit in April
- It comes after the technology was introduced to the Champions League
Video Assistant Referees will be used at this summer’s Nations League finals, UEFA has announced.
After a successful introduction into UEFA’s club competitions in the Champions League knockout stages and Europa League final, the system will be used at this week’s competition involving hosts Portugal, England, Holland and Switzerland.
A VAR team will be based at each stadium to support the referee and check for ‘clear and obvious’ errors relating to goals, red cards, penalty-box incidents or mistaken identity.
Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used during this week’s UEFA Nations League finals
It follows the introduction of VAR to another UEFA tournament, the Champions League
The head coaches of the four participating nations were briefed in April by UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti to prepare for the use of VAR at the finals.
England coach Gareth Southgate said: ‘We had positive experiences of VAR in the World Cup.
‘My feeling both internationally and domestically is that, in the main, the big decisions have been right. The purpose of using VAR is to help the referees so I think it has been a help.
Referee Cuneyt Cakir consults the VAR screen during a Champions League fixture
England manager Gareth Southgate is in favour of VAR usage in international competition
‘You will never get a system that is 100 per cent fail-safe but the key decisions that are clear and obvious have been rectified. For me, that is a positive.’
Portugal’s Fernando Santos hailed the system as ‘a step forward for all people who love football and fair play’, but Holland’s Ronald Koeman stressed: ‘It is important that in the end it is still man who decides, not a machine.’