What training do video assistant referees receive?

Preparing officials for the role of VAR is challenging as it is difficult to replicate the pressure that goes with the job

Acquiring the knowledge and skills of a video assistant referee (VAR) can be achieved in part through offline learning, but ultimately expertise only comes from experience gained in live matches. The training can be broken down into seven components.

1. Know the VAR protocol

The VAR’s parameters are set out in a 2,300-word document published by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). This defines reviewable incidents as:

§ Goal/no goal

§ Penalty/no penalty

§ Direct dismissals (not second cautions)

§ Mistaken identity in relation to cautions and dismissals

The protocol sets out various principles, including that ‘there is no time limit for the review process as accuracy is more important than speed’.

VARs in training are tested to ensure they have thorough knowledge of the protocol.

2. Define ‘clear and obvious’

In the early days of VAR, we tried working to a principle that the on-field decision should be allowed to stand if 20 per cent of us thought it was correct. This seemed reasonable, as VAR had been introduced to deal with ‘howlers’, not decisions that divide opinion.

Nowadays the bar is set slightly higher, given feedback from the game that people want fewer VAR interventions. It’s still subjective, as players, pundits and fans who don’t like a decision – especially when it goes against them – often accuse the VAR of ‘hiding’ behind the clear and obvious threshold. We’ll never win that one.

Nonetheless, for would-be VARs, the ability to judge quickly whether a decision should be reviewed by the referee is crucial. It’s an art not a science and is tested through simulation exercises and discussions held every week either in person or online.

3. Identify the start of an attack

A goal is scored but there was a potential foul by the attacking team in the build-up. How far back can the VAR go?

The IFAB protocol says that a goal can only be disallowed if there is a clear offence by a member of the scoring team during the attacking phase of play (APP).

Defining the APP is not always straightforward. We discussed setting a limit on the halfway line, but some goals scored after fast breaks or long passes up-field would then be allowed despite a foul deep in the other half at the turnover of possession.

Another option was to limit time to, say, 20 seconds. But sometimes the ball would be in or around the defending team’s penalty area for longer, and the impact of the original offence was still relevant to the goal.

The principle in the Premier League is that the further from goal or the longer in time beforehand that a potential offence occurs, the less likely the VAR will intervene. The exception would be a serious offence that demanded disciplinary action, which should always lead to a review.

While a match is running, the VAR sets the APP each time they consider an attack has begun, and resets when the ball is cleared or goes out of play, or the other team has controlled possession. If a goal is scored, the check starts from the start of the APP, so setting it accurately is crucial.

All these judgements are subjective (that word again!) but the best VARs invariably get them right. Again, the principles are taught by going through clips from previous games.

4. Select the best camera angles

There are anywhere from 15-50 cameras on a Premier League match, but which will provide the best evidence when an incident is checked?

Here, the VAR is heavily reliant on their replay operator (RO), who sits alongside them during the match. Employed by Hawk-Eye in England, the RO has access to the same footage as the broadcasters and, on being asked by the VAR to check an incident, has a few seconds to start teeing up the best angle.

This is far from easy and can be counter intuitive. Occasionally, the best footage comes from the opposite end of the pitch, for example.

With experience, VARs develop expertise of the better options and direct the RO accordingly. Bad tackles are usually best checked using a camera that’s at pitch level; offences at corners may start with the camera high behind the goal; potential fouls on the goalkeeper might be best viewed from inside the net.

However, the camera plan varies widely between grounds, with older or smaller stadia presenting problems. At Goodison Park, sometimes posts obscured the view. Before semi-automated offside technology was introduced in 2025, there were often issues at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth as the cameras were too low, which meant players not involved in the decision were in the way.

If the VAR recommends an on-field review, then they must decide quickly which angles to show, at which speed, and have alternatives ready in case the referee requests them. All in the time it takes the ref to jog over to the pitch-side monitor.

Angle selection can be taught to a point by reviewing old clips, but these are often from foreign leagues that have few cameras in the stadium. Expertise only develops with the experience of actual game time.

5. When to use slow motion

VARs are often criticised for using slow motion replays because they can distort reality. A low-intensity tackle can appear much worse because of the point of contact, while a player can look guilty of handball on a freeze frame when their actions were perfectly reasonable, to give just two examples.

With experience, it became apparent that some decisions benefit from establishing the facts by slowing down or freezing the pictures, others do not.

For example, a goal must be disallowed if the ball hits the arm of the scorer in the act of scoring, or immediately before. Also, it can only be a handball offence if the ball strikes a player below the level of his armpit. In either instance, the VAR will likely require more than one freeze frame, from different angles, to determine the correct outcome.

Similarly, deciding the location of an offence – was the foul inside the penalty area? – can rarely be proven from images played at full speed.

Bad tackles require a combined approach: the normal frame rate to show the intensity, something slower to prove the point of contact.

However, it is not always apparent whether it’s a good idea to use slow motion until you have done so, by which time it’s too late – you have seen the images and your judgment may therefore be impaired.

Trainee VARs can develop some skills in this area by working through clips, but each incident is different and experience of doing live games is invaluable.

6. How to communicate

When a key decision is made, the referee is expected to give a brief rationale for their call, which the VAR uses as part of the decision-making process.

The VAR, who can hear everything that is being said by the referee and the two assistants, has on their desk a red button that they hold down when they need to be heard by the officials at the ground. At this point they can also be heard by the media, who are not allowed to broadcast what is being said but can report it.

Therefore, the VAR must choose their words carefully. If their description of events does not match the pictures, their judgement will be open to question or even ridicule. In the heat of battle, as everyone awaits the VAR’s verdict, this can be challenging.

If the VAR decides to send the referee to the pitch-side monitor, they have to decide how much to tell them, if anything.

Say too much, and the VAR can be accused of leading the witness, but fail to point out what the pictures show, and the referee could make a misjudgement and stick with a decision that is plainly wrong.

There is no way of practising this effectively except in live matches. VARs are trained using clips from matches around the world, because we would all remember incidents that have taken place in the Premier League. The officials are usually speaking Spanish, German or Italian, so the comms are taken off.

7. Cope with the pressure

This is the toughest aspect of being a VAR to re-create in training. It’s almost impossible.

There is nothing like the lived experience of being the VAR on a Premier League game where there are actual points at stake, tens of thousands of people in the crowd who are desperate to hear the outcome, and millions watching around the world who have probably already decided what they think the final decision should be.

We have tried running simulator sessions where trainees practise deliberating over decisions in front of all the Premier League referees, which does make the pulse race a little quicker.

But ultimately learning to cope with the pressure only comes with real-life practice, and even some of the most experienced VARs still struggle to cope.

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