VAR technology to make debut in FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in India

FIFA announced on Tuesday. The prestigious tournament, which was given the go-ahead by FIFA after lifting the 11-day-long suspension on All India Football Federation (AIFF), will be held in Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Stadium), Margao (JLN Stadium) and Navi Mumbai (DY Patil Stadium) from October 11-30. “The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will give us important and significant insights into the qualities of the match officials who have been appointed.

We are very happy that, also for the first time, VAR technology will be used at a FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup," said FIFA's Head of Women Refereeing Kari Seitz. "This event will be another great opportunity to showcase the skills of the appointed VARs and continue the development of our female VARs as part of the Road to Australia/New Zealand 2023 project,” she said in a FIFA statement. The VAR technology supports the decision-making process of the referee in four game-changing situations: goals and offences leading up to a goal, penalty decisions and offences leading up to a penalty, direct red card incidents, and mistaken identity.

Throughout a match, the VAR team constantly checks for clear and obvious errors related to these four match-changing situations. The VAR team communicates with the referee only for clear and obvious mistakes or serious missed incidents. The U-17 Women's World Cup in India will be the third FIFA women's tournament to utilise VAR following the U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022 and the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019.