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Way forward
It is high time FIFA irons outs the issues surrounding VAR. Nobody is disputing the outcome of the decisions once VAR is called upon. What is in contention is when VAR is being invoked by the match officials. This is an easy problem to solve, provided there is clear direction from FIFA on how they want to call out to the match referees. These directions also needs to be put into public domain so that transparency is distributed across all stakeholders.
Already there are alternate proposals in the pipeline to give the decision to use VAR to the two teams – probably one VAR decision per half per team. This is based on how cricket uses the third umpire system to help reduce blatant human mistakes.
Irrespective of what FIFA does, it is clear that VAR is here to stay. Therefore, teams must be careful on the impact of VAR on the outcome of the match. As old habits die long, there must be special sessions arranged by the team management to the players, especially to the defenders. Otherwise, the spectre of more VAR induced penalties are likely to come as we move towards the finals of this world cup!
