2018 World Cup: first World Cup penalty awarded with the use of VAR during France - Australia

For the first time in the history of the World Cup, a penalty has been awarded with the use of the video assistant referee, during the France - Australia (2-1, group C) match, in Kazan (RUS) on 16/06/2018. Referee Andres Cunha (URU) interrupted the game and viewed the images on the edge of the field before awarding a penalty to France for a foul made in the penalty area by Josh Risdon (AUS) on Antoine Griezmann (FRA).

A team of video assistant referees support the trio of referees in each of the 64 matches of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. This team is housed in a video management room at the Moscow International Broadcast Center. All images from the television cameras of the 12 World Cup stadiums arrive there via a fiber optic network. "The referee on the field at each stadium talks to the VAR team via a sophisticated fibre-linked radio system," said FIFA on 16/03/2018.

"The video assistant referee does not take any decisions; he supports the referee in the decision making process and the final decision can only be taken by the referee," added FIFA.

Video Assistant Referee: the…