SEATTLE - Tuesday night’s match between Sounders FC 2 and San Antonio FC (7:30 p.m. PT, TICKETS) will feature more than just a tilt between two USL western conference opponents. For just the third time in the 2017 USL season, a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will assist in officiating the match.
Back in June of 2016, FIFA’s International Football Association Board (IFAB) voted to allow the use of VAR in official competitive fixtures. Just two months later, a USL match between Orlando City B and New York Red Bulls 2 became the first such competition to feature the new initiative.
The VAR will simply be a fifth official overseeing the match and will automatically review crucial moments of the game, such as goals, straight red cards and penalties. Essentially, the VAR will have access to the video and every single broadcast angle and will communicate with the head referee only when a mistake has been made in one of those three match-altering scenarios, as well in cases of mistaken identity.
With FIFA aiming to introduce the new system in the 2018 World Cup, having established leagues like MLS and USL spearhead the new initiative will help soccer’s governing body work out all the kinks before the tournament in Russia.
MLS has already tested VAR in select friendlies throughout the 2017 preseason. Tuesday night’s match marks the third time in the 2017 USL season that a VAR will join the officiating crew as the league continues to test the emerging initiative. And while the decision to adopt and test VAR was initially met with some skepticism, recent high-profile matches around the world have signalled the need to address some of the shortcomings of the current system.
“Well if you look at the [UEFA] Champions League games lately, I think it’s probably something that is inevitable in the sport,” said S2 head coach Ezra Hendrickson.
“If you look at Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich the other day, there were two important goals that kept Bayern out of the game that were offsides, and without the VAR you don’t get to look at it and overturn those.”
While the increased efficacy of officiating in competitive fixtures is certainly a plus, the fact that the league is still in the testing phase of the rollout leaves some uncertainty about how well the new system will work in the heat of a match.
“Anything that can help us get [important calls] right I think is important,” said Sounders FC Director of Personnel Kurt Schmid.
“I’m curious to see how it plays out. Like anything, it will have its kinks that need to be worked out, but that’s why we’re testing it and I think it will be good in the long term.
“But I think anything we can do to make sure the calls in the crucial moments of the game are correct,” Schmid continued. “That people have faith in them, is a step in the right direction.”
The MLS All Star game, ironically against Real Madrid, will feature the use of VAR, and the German Bundesliga has announced its plans to implement the new system ahead of the 2017-18 season. S2’s game on Tuesday night will provide a primer on how this long-debated adjustment to officiating matches will actually work in practice. And the game of soccer will be all the better for it.
