The video proof will be used in the Champions League already from the eighth finals of the current season. The UEFA Executive Committee with DFB President Reinhard Grindel voted on Monday in Dublin for the early introduction of the technology, which should actually only be used from the 2019/20 season in the premier class.
In the Europa League, the final in Baku (29 May 2019) will be supervised by the “VAR” (Video Assistant Referee). The video proof will also be used at the final tournament of the Nations League (June 5-9, 2019 in Portugal) and at the U21 European Championship 2019 in Italy (June 16-30, 2019).
“We are ready to use the Video Assistant earlier and are convinced that it will have great advantages for our competitions,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, among others, had vehemently advocated the use of the “VAR” recently. Again and again in the Champions League, the referees had made some blatant mistakes, which could probably have been prevented with the video evidence. The Round of 16 will be played from 12 February to 13 March 2019.
UEFA will benefit from the fact that the stadiums of the “usual suspects” in the knockout rounds of the top leagues Spain, England, Germany and Italy are already equipped with appropriate camera systems. This also applies to the Arena of Atletico Madrid, where the final will kick off on 1 June 2019.
