Football’s lawmaking body has agreed to consider the introduction of Football Video Support around the world.
The International Football Association Board has backed FIFA to extend trials into the system, which is a cheaper alternative to VAR (video assistant referee).
IFAB held its Annual Business Meeting in London today. The meeting was chaired by Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson.
It was agreed at the ABM that the potential introduction of Football Video Support will be discussed further when IFAB holds its annual meeting in Belfast on 1 March.
FVS, which uses fewer cameras than VAR, has been and is being trialled by FIFA at various tournaments around the world.
FIFA believes it is the answer to several requests it has received from member associations that cannot implement the VAR system because their human and financial resources are limited and very few cameras are currently in use in their competitions.
Today’s IFAB ABM also focused on other ongoing trials, including those aimed at reducing time wasting and improving participant behaviour, building on input from the recent meeting of The IFAB’s Football and Technical Advisory Panels.
Members were updated on the progress made with the trial addressing goalkeepers holding the ball for too long and only the captain being able to interact with the referee in specific situations so as to protect match officials, including additional guidelines issued in July this year. The ABM emphasised the importance of competition organisers, players and officials working collaboratively to adhere to these guidelines.
Presentations were also given on other topics, including trials involving public announcements after lengthy VAR checks and VAR reviews, developments in relation to semi-automated offside technology, and exploration of the use of referee body cameras by FIFA.
FIFA updated the ABM on its Suspect and Protect concussion campaign, which has been adopted by a growing number of member associations.
The meeting heard more than half of FIFA’s member associations have downloaded toolkits to promote awareness and education, medical briefings have been conducted or scheduled across all confederations, while players received effective concussion training during this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup held in Dominican Republic.
The ABM determines the agenda items for The IFAB’s Annual General Meeting.
IFAB comprises of representatives from FIFA, The FA, Irish FA, Scottish FA and Football Association of Wales.
