The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Champions League worked remotely in a different country from the host team for the first time when Sevilla hosted Chelsea on Wednesday, said Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA. Until now, UEFA has had the VAR team operate onsite, but this game will have them operating at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon. “UEFA has now successfully tested and approved a VAR remote technical solution and that was implemented for the first time in an official capacity for the Champions League group stage encounter between Sevilla and Chelsea,” it said in a statement. “The referee on the pitch was assisted from the VAR Operation Room in Nyon, Switzerland.” UEFA added that a back-up team will still deployed onsite at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. (Source: Reuters)
CONMEBOL, through its Referees Committee, successfully completed the first remote VAR connection in an official CONMEBOL Libertadores match, between Guarani and Gremio, for the Round of 16 played at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion. “This is another important step in favor of sports justice on the South American soccer field. We believe that we are on the right track to achieve our objective of operating the VOR booths from CETA - CONMEBOL ”, stated Carlos Astroza, Technical Manager of the CONMEBOL Referees Committee. The VAR was monitored by the Uruguayan referee Daniel Fedorczuk, from the CETA, which is housed within the premises of the South American Football Confederation in Luque - Paraguay, where he received signal, sound and image from the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion. With this fact, one of the purposes of CETA is fulfilled, which is to centralize the VAR of South America. This will bring great benefits for CONMEBOL refereeing, especially in the field of health and finance, with the reduction of long trips by VMOs to different parts of the continent, addressing, for example, the current pandemic. Astroza announced that the next match with the same remote connection system will be the re-match for the second round of the CONMEBOL Libertadores between Gremio and Guarani, which will be played on Thursday, December 3, at the Arena Gremio in Porto Alegre. Inaugurated in 2019 and with a first-rate infrastructure, CETA CONMEBOL is one of the best centers for training, training and technical development of referees in the world. This project is carried out within the framework of a match schedule, in a joint effort between the Departments of Refereeing, Development and Club Competitions of CONMEBOL. (Source: CONMEBOL)