Villas-Boas urges consistent VAR in all UEFA top 8 leagues and cups | OneFootball

The VAR protocol may soon be altered, allowing technology to intervene in cases of "clear and obvious errors." This proposal was put forward by David Elleray, a former international referee and representative of IFAB, during the Men’s Football Working Group meeting of the European Football Clubs (EFC) held last Tuesday in Frankfurt, attended by FC Porto's president, André Villas-Boas.

One of the topics discussed was the limits of VAR's intervention, including the possible expansion of the protocol to incidents previously excluded, such as incorrectly awarded corner kicks (a recent case in Santa Clara-Sporting), wrongly shown yellow cards, and, in the short/medium term, situations involving a second yellow card. Elleray admitted that "changes" to the current framework are imminent, aiming to allow VAR intervention in clear errors, even when they do not directly involve goals, penalties, or direct expulsions.

The discussion arises at a time when Portuguese football is experiencing a new cycle of controversy surrounding refereeing. A day before the Portuguese Football Referees Association (APAF) met with Liga Portugal – in a meeting where José Borges presented Reinaldo Teixeira with proposals to increase sanctions, including hefty fines and even point deductions for clubs criticizing refereeing decisions – the European elite debated the same issue from a structural and technological modernization perspective.

The Frankfurt meeting was attended by André Villas-Boas, as a member of UEFA's UCC Committee, who advocated for greater uniformity in the application of the Laws of the Game and the use of refereeing technologies in all European competitions and, ideally, in all top-8 UEFA ranking countries, which includes Liga Portugal. The official emphasized the need for IFAB to sensitize UEFA to ensure that VAR, goal-line technology, and automatic offside are equitably available in the continent's major leagues.

The meeting also addressed the international calendar and effective playing time, with consensus on the urgency of protecting athletes' rest and managing seasons more balancedly.

With this participation, FC Porto underscores its commitment to positively influencing the European debate, advocating for a "fairer, more modern, and sustainable" football. However, the main focus is on the promise of a more interventionist VAR, capable of correcting not only a wrongly awarded goal or penalty but also an unjust card that could affect an entire championship.

The meeting requested by FC Porto with Luciano Gonçalves on November 1st, on the eve of the controversial reception of the dragons to Sp. Braga – an episode involving the high-profile television case – already has a set date. According to Record, the Arbitration Council of the Portuguese Football Federation will meet with Porto officials next Tuesday, the 18th of this month, before the end of the championship break, as requested.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.