Women’s World Cup: why do referees explain VAR decisions at the stadium microphone?

2023-07-20 19:10:02

“After reviewing the action, the decision is: penalty! “. We’re 89th into the Women’s World Cup opener and Yoshimi Yamashita has just made history. For the first time in a competition organized by Fifa, the Japanese referee declaimed into his microphone, taken over by the speakers of Eden Park in Auckland, his decision to award a penalty to New Zealand for a hand in the Norwegian surface. A small step for the “football ferns” – who missed this penalty but won the match (1-0), a big step for world refereeing. Because on the scale of a sport which sometimes takes decades to modify the slightest paragraph of the rules, it is a small revolution.

⚽ #FIFAWWC | The first commented decision of the VAR ???? with referee Yoshimi Yamashita explaining to the public his decision to whistle a penalty in favor of New Zealand pic.twitter.com/BOyFas4DVu

— francetvsport (@francetvsport) July 20, 2023

If this practice was invented a long time ago in the NFL, the overpowering North American football league, we had never heard the voice of a “soccer” referee broadcast throughout the stadium and on television to explain his decisions. During the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20 – August 20), this will be the procedure for each decision of the VAR, the video assistance. This new rule, validated last March by the IFAB, the body which controls and modifies the laws of football, then ratified by FIFA on Tuesday, was therefore exercised for the first time during the opening match. The clamor of the local public, delighted by the awarded penalty, on the other hand covered the end of the referee’s remarks, who described the offense committed, the player responsible and the reason for his choice.

Antony Gautier, appointed head of French refereeing in January, welcomes this initiative: “I have the feeling that anything that can help shed light on the referee’s decisions can only be positive. For the former international referee, the main beneficiaries are behind their television set and at the stadium. “Rather than leaving spectators and television viewers in uncertainty or even misunderstanding, explaining live the reason for a decision taken on the ground can be a real added value”, he rejoices.

A measure tested at the Club World Cup

The history of this new measure goes back to the beginning of the year. It comes from a proposal from the IFAB advisory panel, made up of referees, players and other players in football, whether active or not. Their role is to propose changes to the rules of the game to the decision-makers of the body, who validate them or not. Among the advisory panel is Arsene Wenger, legendary Arsenal manager, and now director of global football development at Fifa.

The panel idea was put to the test at the Club World Cup in Morocco this year, as well as the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina last month. It is therefore a first in a major competition. A news announced Tuesday by Pierluigi Collina, famous international referee and chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee. “We want to give more transparency and a better understanding of the arbitration decisions”, he justified.

For years, players in the world of football have been calling on the field and in the stands for tools to better understand refereeing decisions. Here is one more step in this direction, even if, in France, the IFAB has refused the permanent sound system of officials in national competitions, yet systematically practiced in rugby and supported by Antony Gautier. In the same way, for the moment, as the sound system for VAR decisions. But the experiment carried out during this Women’s World Cup could quickly change the situation.