VAR: Bundesliga first major football league to use video assistance in all matches from 2017-18

"In the upcoming 2017-18 season, the Bundesliga is set to become the first, and currently only, top football league to use Video Assistant Referees (VARs) at all its matches," announced the German Professional Football League on 19/01/2017.

"Since April 2016, the DFL has been undertaking efforts to meet the technical and organizational prerequisites for the use of VARs and ready them for deployment. All Bundesliga referees have completed at least two levels of corresponding training. In the third level starting February, the referees will have to prove themselves in pre-live tests. These involve training matches at which particular focus will be placed on practicing the interaction between the referee, the VAR and the technology in real-life situations," added the DFL.

"In technical terms, DFL has opted for a 'center solution', where all VARs will be assembled at a single location on the day of play. The Bundesliga stadiums are linked to the VAR center via a fiber-optic network, allowing live images of the games to be beamed direct to the VARs’ monitors. This infrastructure ensures…