FIFA to use VAR for corners at World Cup

FIFA is set to press ahead with plans to have VAR checks on the awarding of corner kicks at the 2026 World Cup despite domestic leagues rejecting the idea for the wider game.

At an October meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the laws of the game, there was agreement that VAR could be expanded to cover incorrectly shown second yellow cards that lead to a red.

But FIFA’s proposal to review corners was rejected, meaning world football’s governing body will need to effectively create a trial to use it in the United States, Mexico, and Canada next summer.

The measures will be discussed further at the next IFAB meeting in January, but FIFA has regularly applied trials to its competitions. Semi-automated offside technology and referees announcing VAR decisions to the crowd are two examples, and it could use the same mechanism to start reviewing corners.

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s head of referees, has been a supporter of the change as part of a wider review of VAR protocol.

Collina is open to going further, too, believing that any error that can quickly be identified by the VAR could potentially be communicated. The former referee has highlighted an incident in the Euro 2016 final, when Portugal were wrongly awarded a free-kick in extra time for handball on the edge of the area that almost led to a goal.

One of the fundamentals of the Laws of the Game that apply at all levels is that a referee cannot change a restart decision even if they realise it is incorrect after play is back under way.

So, once the corner is taken and play is live, the game must continue. For that reason, every corner will have to be reviewed by the VAR – although in the majority of cases the decision will be obvious.

FIFA believes it has the resources—from VARs to cameras to the ball technology—to make all decisions quickly.

It will present a departure from VAR protocol, which is only intended to look at four specific areas: goals, penalties, red cards, and mistaken identity. In the World Cup next year, the awarding of corners is set to be added to that list. -BBC