IFAB: live communication of VAR-related decisions to the public to be tested during competitions

"Referees' live communication of video assistant referee (VAR)‑related decisions to the public, both in the stadium and via broadcasters, will be trialled for 12 months in international competitions," announced the International Football Association Board (IFAB) following its annual business meeting on 18/01/2023.

This measure will be implemented from the next FIFA Club World Cup, which will start on 01/02/2023 (in Morocco). Other competitions during which this system will be tested have not been communicated.

"The Executive Committee (of the FFF) has reached out to the IFAB to request that France be allowed to be an experimental Federation for referees to wear a microphone from the beginning to the end of the match. A subsidiary proposal was also sent, in case the IFAB is not in favor of the first: that France can be an experimental Federation to provide sound during the use of VAR. It would be great for the public to be able to hear what the referees say," said Éric Borghini, member of the FFF executive committee and chairman of the French federal referees' commission, as reported…