JonB wrote:

Imagine it in penalty shootouts. Maybe in a World Cup final. It's sudden death, the first team has scored theirs, the player from the second team steps up... smashes the ball yards over the bar. The stadium erupts, the winning team celebrates. People from all around their country are delerious with excitement.

A minute passes and eyes turn back to the referee. VAR has checked. It turns out the keeper's foot had moved an inch off the line a second before the ball was kicked. The penaly must be retaken. You have not won the World Cup. Everyone sit down again.

VAR fans sitting at home: "Quite right too. This is how football should be."

You mention penalty kicks, which are perhaps the most discussed and criticised topic in relation to the use of VAR. The rule itself has also been criticised. How can the concept be made clear to everyone?

First of all I would remind everyone that, for a long time, goalkeepers had to keep both feet on the goal line until a penalty kick was taken. This made it very difficult for a goalkeeper to save a penalty and also for the referees to enforce what the law dictates. Having understood that, we discussed this matter with players and coaches and eventually decided to help goalkeepers by allowing them to have only one foot on the goal line instead of two. Since that change their job is definitely easier than before, and it is also easier for them to respect the current law than the previous version. Then, if a law exists, referees must enforce it - particularly when tools like VAR or GLT are available.

For factual decisions, the number of centimetres doesn’t matter. If a ball is over the goal line by few centimetres, a goal must be still awarded. And if a foul is committed within the penalty area by few centimetres, a penalty kick must be given. It is the same for offside as there is not a ‘small’ or a ‘big’ offside - there is simply an offside. Today referees cannot justify a mistake by saying they couldn’t see because VAR and GLT are there to support their decision-making. Therefore if a goalkeeper commits an offence like encroaching before the penalty kick is taken, the VAR cannot do anything but intervene and inform the referee that the penalty kick must be retaken and the goalkeeper cautioned.

It is a different situation with the encroachment of other players that remain under the control of the referee. VAR cannot intervene there unless the players who encroached become directly involved in play – if the penalty kick rebounds from the goalpost, crossbar or goalkeeper. As I already said, all the teams were duly informed at the beginning of March and goalkeepers had enough time to get used to it. And as mentioned, the recent change actually makes the goalkeeper’s job easier than it was before.

Paul the sparky wrote:

I'm not seeing the problem. In that scenario the right call is made, the right team wins the World Cup and the VAR stuff only adds to the drama, like we saw in the Champions League semi final with Man City and Spurs when the last minute winner was chalked off for offside. It was brilliant, the right team went through and it was incredibly exciting to see the range of emotions on show.

Paul the sparky wrote:

What about the times when half the crowd jump up and celebrate a goal when the ball hits the side netting? Should we just award a goal anyway to save their blushes?