The 4th Round of the FA Cup had many forgettable moments due to the absence of VAR. Chelsea might have still been in the FA Cup if Tariq Lamptey’s handball was given in the buildup to the penalty that was awarded by the referee.
Even Ruben Amorim was convinced that VAR should have been there even though his team won with a stoppage time winner which could have been controversial if VAR would have been there.
These mistakes have now made the Premier League and FA Cup take immediate action on this as now Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be active across all eight ties in the fifth round of this season’s FA Cup.
In order to give viewers and fans more clarity and understanding, match officials will use in-stadium VAR announcements to make their final decision regarding instances that have been examined.
Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will also be used in all seven Premier League games during the FA Cup fifth round. This will be the first time SAOT has been used live in an English football competition.
It is now prepared for implementation after the Premier League tested several artificial intelligence-based semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) vendors for two years.
Semi-automated offside technology was initially implemented by UEFA in the Champions League at the beginning of the 2022–2023 season group stage. FIFA also adopted it for the World Cup in Qatar.
This weekend, in the FA Cup fifth round, SAOT will make its English football debut by playing in seven matches at Premier League stadiums.
What is VAR?
In a nutshell, VAR is a technology-aided officiating system intended to assist on-field referees to make accurate decisions during crucial junctures of a football match. These usually come in play when the topic is about penalties, goals or potential red card fouls.
The VAR team monitors the game remotely on multiple screens and has real-time access to video footage of the match through multiple camera angles.
Usually, a VAR team consists of a VAR official, who is usually a former or current referee, three assistant video assistant referees (AVARs) and a video replay operator.
What do Fans think About It?
There have been criticisms as well as applauds for this system and it is hard to understand this noise as everyone has their opinion on it. Football fanatics consider this as a disturbance in the game as it allows the game to be stopped and sometimes for a good while.
While some consider it to be great for the game as it allows no cheating and fair decisions to be made with evidence for better judgment by the referees.
