By Martin Graham
Both football and rugby rely on video technology to aid in important and contested moments during matches. In soccer, this role belongs to the video assistant referee (VAR), while rugby union uses a television match official (TMO).
Rugby’s adoption of video review dates back to the 1990s, long before football adopted similar tools. Given the intensity of 30 players contesting possession in small spaces and the difficulty for referees to maintain clear lines of sight, the sport was a first step in this area.
At first, TMOs were only tasked with judging strict decisions about whether a try had been grounded. A notable example was in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, when Mark Cueto’s effort for England against South Africa was disallowed after a review.
Over time, the TMO’s responsibilities expanded to include foul play and goal kick checks. With authorities largely focused on reducing high-profile assaults, exchanges between field officials and video colleagues have become longer and more common.
World Rugby has tried to avoid excessive replays by advising referees to limit reviews to the final stages leading up to a try, rather than going back through long passages of play. The aim of the sport is to safeguard the players and at the same time preserve the rhythm.
In 2023, a “bunker” approach was introduced. Incidents that meet the threshold for a yellow card can be escalated to red following a video analysis while the player serves time in the sin bin. While not flawless (South Africa’s November win over Ireland dragged on for more than two hours amid five yellow card reviews), rugby’s process remains relatively quick and benefits from live broadcasts of the officials’ discussions, providing clarity for viewers.
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In contrast, football has historically been reluctant to incorporate technological assistance. It was only after Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany at the 2010 World Cup that FIFA accepted the need for goal-line technology.
Sepp Blatter opposed testing wider video systems during his presidency. It was only after his departure in 2015 that trials of VAR gained momentum. The Bundesliga and Serie A implemented the system in the 2017-18 campaign and it was written into the laws of the game ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
Under the current framework, VAR can intervene in four categories: possible red cards, penalty decisions, goals and cases of mistaken identity. While its application in major international tournaments has generally been viewed positively, domestic competitions have encountered greater challenges.
Maintaining consistency over an entire league season has proven difficult and the reviews have become increasingly detailed. Long stoppages to analyze incidents have increased fan frustration, especially inside stadiums where information is limited. A central complication remains the subjective nature of many of football’s laws.
Earlier this month, UEFA’s head of referees, Roberto Rosetti, argued that officials had lost sight of VAR’s original purpose, describing its use as too “microscopic”.
