VAR will be used in the Santosh Trophy semi-finals in Riyadh, which is a huge boost for Indian football. Santosh Trophy: Punjab vs. Meghalaya: For the first time in Indian football history, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) — the FIFA-approved referee’s decision review technology — will be used for domestic play.
The 76th National Football Championships for the Santosh Trophy, which will be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will utilise VAR in the knockout rounds. The first semi-final, between Punjab and Services, will be the first domestic match using VAR facilities accessible to the referee.
The Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League, India’s top two professional leagues, do not yet employ VAR. It has been used in India from the start of the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in 2022. As well as since the AFC Women’s Asian Cup quarterfinals.
“For the first time, VAR will be employed in the Santosh Trophy. We considered adopting Video Assistant Referee since we are using 10-12 cameras to broadcast the action,” said All-India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Choubey.
On VAR
There was an informal meeting with visiting Indian journalists. There the AIFF president stated that they intend to use Video Assistant Referee in other local championships, but the expense is prohibitively expensive.
“We have a lot of smart people in IT (Information Technology), therefore we want to leverage their experience and make up a cost-effective mechanism to implement VAR for domestic tournaments,” said Kalyan Choubey, who took over as AIFF president after elections last year.
The VAR is a video match official. It will assess occurrences such as goals (whether or not the ball crossed the goalline), penalties, offsides, and fouls. According to FIFA’s current clearance, if the VAR believes the on-field match referee committed a clear error. So he or she can suggest an on-field review. The final decision, however, remains with the match referee.
The former India goalkeeper stated that his ambition as AIFF president is to use technology to assist Indian football flourish. AIFF’s Youtube channel, FANCode App, and DD Sports will all broadcast the games in Riyadh. It will include the final, two semifinals, and third-place match.
