VAR to make its debut in the AFC Champions League

Asia's soccer governing body has disclosed the usage of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) from the 2020 AFC Champions League quarter-final stages.

VAR to be implemented from #ACL2020 quarter-finals onwards. First time in AFC's club competitions too!https://t.co/VyFD0mPTvJ

— #ACL2020 (@TheAFCCL) August 24, 2020

The renowned technology was brought into the spotlight by Major League Soccer (MLS), who introduced VAR in competitive games in 2017 after a series of tests during non-competitive games in the Netherlands.

Big European leagues such as the Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, and Ligue 1 followed the American league by implementing the technology over the last few years and FIFA used the technology in the 2018 World Cup.

VAR made its debut in Asia during the last eight stages of the AFC Asian Cup, which was held in the United Arab Emirates last year. It was also successfully implemented in the AFC Under-23s Championship in Thailand in January this year as well.

In order to improve the efficiency of the technology, various courses and seminars have taken place since March 2017. The Asian Football Federation also has a good track record in the implementation of VAR which has been endorsed by FIFA and IFAB.

To further strengthen the AFC's capabilities in the VAR system in the AFC Champions League, a workshop will be organized on August 26th to discuss recent VAR developments.

VAR will aim to provide minimum interference and maximum benefit. It is also limited to four game-changing decisions or incidents, specifically - goal, or no goal, penalty kicks, direct red cards, and mistaken identity decisions.

The AFC Champions League was suspended due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in March, and will resume in Qatar from September 14th behind closed doors.