Football lawmakers IFAB will consider making tweaks to VAR in crunch meeting this week – report

VAR

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss potential tweaks to Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.

VAR was introduced in the Premier League at the start of this season, since when several managers, players, pundits and supporters have voiced concerns about its efficacy.

The system has been in place for longer in other leagues across the world, but IFAB members will consider making changes to the way it is used.

"It's still relatively new technology for the game of football," Patrick Nelson, IFAB's chairman, told Sky Sports ahead of Tuesday's meeting in Belfast. "Cricket and rugby have had it for a long time.

"We need to look at the data that we've got, from the many experiments around the world, and see if there are any tweaks to the protocol that we need to make, to make it better for everyone in the game."

"IFAB is about the parks game, as well as the World Cup final. A lot of the media interest, and supporter interest, tends to be around the top-end games in the professional part of football. The laws of the game, they're there for everyone. We have to take that into account all the time."

VAR will not be the only item on the agenda this week, with IFAB also expected to look closely at the current regulations surrounding concussion.

However, Nelson does not expect a new protocol to be in place in time for next summer's European Championship.

"Concussion will be one of the main issues," the IFAB chairman confirmed. "It's a brand-new issue for IFAB. We will take this very seriously.

"We will look at how we can work within the laws of the game to try to minimise the effects of concussion. It's very, very, early stages so don't expect anything too dramatic just yet. It will be one of the key items that we discuss.

"I think it's very early stages for [Euro 2020] .The European Championships are coming up very close to us now. It could be too early for that.

"I think, from an IFAB perspective, we need to study all the data and try and make the best decisions we can for the future of the game."

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).