Finally, UEFA has confirmed it has common sense. On Thursday, the Executive Committee confirmed there will be VAR in Champions League matches starting with the 2019 season.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin "We're confident that introducing VAR in August 2019 will give us enough time to put in place a robust system & to train match officials to ensure an efficient, successful implementation of VAR in #UCL, the world’s flagship club competition."
— UEFA (@UEFA) September 27, 2018
Use of VAR in Champions League is well overdue. Bundesliga, Serie A and many other leagues have implemented the video replay system with only a few growing pains and the World Cup saw VAR show the world that it’s the way of the future.
VAR won’t be in use during the remainder of the current UCL season after there was speculation it could be introduced for the final. The first use of VAR in UEFA competition will be in the 2019 Super Cup (between the Champions League and Europa League winners) next August.
While it would’ve been nice to get VAR in Champions League matches this season, we’ll have to wait until next year to make sure all the match-deciding calls are made correctly.
AS Roma owner James Pallotta for one will be thrilled with the decision. Earlier this year he was banned for three months from UEFA matches for comments he made on officiating in a Champions League series with Liverpool.
“VAR must come into the Champions League,” Pallotta said at the time. “I don’t understand why there is no VAR in the most important competition.”
In addition to VAR in Champions League matches, VAR will come to the 2020 European Championships and the Europa League by the 2020-21 season. The UEFA Nations League finals in 2021 will also feature VAR.
Now the Premier League is one of the last holdouts when it comes to VAR. Last April the league voted against its implementation for the current season because apparently England is full of Luddites.
Other decisions made by the UEFA ExCo on Thursday:
- Germany will host Euro 2024
- Gondomar, Portugal, will host the inaugural UEFA Women’s Futsal Euros in 2019
- Latvia will host the UEFA U-19 Futsal Euros in 2019
- Kosovo was ratified as a member of the UEFA Referee Convention
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