Chair of Fifa’s referees committee offers his support
Collina wants to ensure changes do not slow down game
Pierluigi Collina has said he would be in favour of the use of VAR to determine whether corners have been correctly awarded at the World Cup next summer. The chair of Fifa’s referees committee, speaking at a media briefing in Washington, made clear he supported the advance of technology.
Collina said conversations were taking place over whether VAR could adjudicate on second yellow cards. They will continue at the next meeting of the International Football Association Board, the law-making body, in Wales next March, meaning there would be time for the ruling to come into effect for the World Cup. Collina also said discussions were ongoing over how best to combat time-wasting, including when goalkeepers go to ground, seemingly feigning injury to allow managers to hold team meetings. He added that Fifa wanted to explore AI-based innovations to help match officials and improve the game, although he gave no details on this.
The Italian was most strident on VAR and the award of corners, saying he lived in fear of a wrongly awarded kick leading to a decisive goal in a big game. The technology could be used to assess whether the ball had fully crossed the line or which team had last touched it. The major factor in whether such a move could be viable was the potential delay to the game.
