Video Assistant Referee (VAR)
Implemented in the UEFA Champions League in 2019 after comprehensive screenings and referee instruction, VAR has since extended its reach to other tournaments, involving all men's senior national team and club matches, the UEFA Women's Champions League, and the UEFA Women’s EURO.
How will VAR work at UEFA EURO 2024?
Each game at the UEFA European Football Championship will leverage a VAR system, together with two Assistant Video Assistant Referees (AVARs) and three video operators. Four video operational rooms (VOR) have been established in the Football Technology Hub (FTECH hub) at the international broadcast center in Leipzig as primary resources for this initiative.
The VAR team will persistently scan for clear and obvious errors related to the following four match-changing situations:
1) Goal
2) Incidents in the penalty area
3) Red cards
4) Mistaken identity
The VAR team will review all match-changing situations but only intervene for clear and obvious mistakes. The referee has the authority to suspend the game while a decision is under investigation. If the VAR analysis uncovers substantial proof of a egregious error in a pivotal situation, the VAR can suggest the referee to initiate an on-field review. The verdict ultimately lays with the referee. VAR has the capacity to account for any violation that might have transpired in the immediate lead-up to the event (the attack phase of play).
Decisions deemed as 'fact-based' (e.g. offside, fouls in or outside the penalty area) can be directly shared with the referee by the VAR, negating the requirement for an on-field view screen. Despite this, caution must be taken as the final say always rests with the referee. Information pertaining to the review process will be communicated within the stadium using the stadium screens.
Connected Ball Technology
For the first time at the UEFA European Football Championship, the official match ball will feature Adidas connected ball technology, which sends precise ball data to video match officials in real time. Combining player position data with AI, the innovation contributes to UEFA’s semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and will be key to supporting faster in-match decisions. Connected ball technology can also help VAR officials to identify every individual touch of the ball, reducing time spent resolving handball and penalty incidents.
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Semi-automated Offside Technology (SAOT)
SAOT equips VAR teams with the ability to quickly and more accurately ascertain offside positions, courtesy of ten specialized cameras installed at the stadium, tracking 29 unique body points per player. Incorporated into the UEFA Champions League in 2022, this system integrates with the EURO connected ball to promptly pinpoint the offside situations that need to be analyzed, right at the moment of ball contact.
Goal-line Technology (GLT)
GLT systems have been installed in all the tournament venues by UEFA. This technology, in action since 2016 in UEFA's premier club and national team contests, operates using seven cameras per goal, implementing control software to monitor the ball within the goal vicinity. With cutting-edge vision-processing algorithms, the GLT relays whether a goal was scored within a second of the action via a vibratory and visual signal on each match official's watch.
The Football Technology Hub
The FTECH hub stands as the hub for all tech operations for EURO 2024. Video match officials (VARs and AVARs) will be in attendance and operational for all matches, stationed at the four VORs inside the FTECH hub.
The hub amalgamates all the data, collected by diverse technologies through optical cameras (goal-line tech and electronic performance tracking systems) or sensors (connected ball). All the data point is quality controlled in real-time and distributed to the different applications (SAOT, Performance Analysis Portal, etc).
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