FIFA may introduce a new system that gives football coaches the opportunity to directly challenge a referee’s decision, reports L’Équipe.
As in basketball and American football, the system, called Football Video Support (FVS), would allow coaches to ‘challenge’ a potentially incorrect decision by a referee. According to the French newspaper, coaches could demand at least two revisions in a match.
The FVS system was already approved by the IFAB in March and was tested during the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups. To further develop the system and bring it closer to implementation in more football matches, IFAB must now approve the expansion of the project.
However, Pierluigi Colina, chairman of the FIFA Refereeing Committee, warned: “It is important to understand that FVS is not the same as VAR. Due to the limited number of cameras used, FVS cannot show the same as VAR.”
Despite the limitations of FVS compared to VAR, the system would give coaches unprecedented power to potentially influence decisions that could affect the outcome of a match.
Furthermore, FVS could serve as a safety net in cases where VAR decides not to review, such as Marc Cucurella’s handball against Germany in the Euro 2024 semi-final.
