VAR makes headline stories at Women’s World Cup

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is turning out to be the biggest star in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, and is making headline stories at the other positives such as the record television viewing figures around the world.

VAR gave Chile a penalty against Thailand late in the second half, which if not wasted would have sent the South Americans into the knock out stage.

VAR stole the headline again in the wake of the retaken penalty for Argentina that knocked out Scotland on Wednesday. There was a similar controversy in Nigeria’s loss to France, another retaken penalty preventing the Super Falcons from securing automatic qualification for the knockout phase.

If the use of Video Assistant Referees at the 2018 World Cup in Russia was ultimately deemed a success, recent modifications to the laws of the game are causing problems.

Scotland and Nigeria were undone by a change to the law on penalty kicks, which means a goalkeeper must now have “at least part of one foot on… the goal line when the kick is taken”.

The VAR found that Scotland goalkeeper Lee Alexander, like Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, had strayed fractionally in front of the line, and penalties either missed or saved were retaken and converted.