VAR changes announced - Trial and new technology coming soon to St James' Park
Newcastle’s fifth round FA Cup clash at home to Brighton will see the FA trial a number of new refereeing measures and technologies.
Included in the trial is semi-automated offside technology, which will hopefully put an end to tedious, drawn-out VAR decisions and further shrinking any margin for error.
VAR will be used in FA Cup games from the fifth round onwards and in-stadium announcements will also be introduced, offering clarity for supporters and live updates on the decisions taken by VAR.
It’s hoped by the FA that these measures will soon be permanently implemented into standard Premier League and cup fixtures before the end of the current campaign.
What is the proposal?
The English FA released a press statement confirming that all eight Last 16 ties in this year’s FA Cup will have VAR active, including Newcastle’s home tie against Brighton and Hove Albion at St James’ Park over the first weekend of March.
The statement also remarkably includes that “The fifth round will also utilise Semi-Automated Offside Technology in all seven matches taking place at Premier League stadiums, which is the first time it will be used live in competitive matches in English football.”
The only exception across all ties will be at Championship-side Preston, who host Burnley at Deepdale.
What is the target outcome?
The FA hopes that the trial, particularly the semi-automated offside tech, will deliver a quicker and more efficient decision-making process, whilst ensuring “an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience” for fans.
The fourth round of this year’s FA Cup was plagued with controversial refereeing decisions, including Joe Willock’s equaliser vs Birmingham, Harry Maguire’s winner vs Leicester, and Kaoru Mitoma’s winner vs Chelsea - all fixtures where no VAR was present.
The availability of VAR officials should, in an ideal world, prevent any more major refereeing blunders or questionable decisions following through in a competition built on delivering shocks and upsets.
What can Newcastle fans expect ahead of the Brighton game?
Semi-automatic offside technology will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by the St James’ Park faithful.
One can only look to the agonising delays and momentum killing intervention of manual onside reviews from the second leg against Arsenal to see how the more seamless the technology, the better.
VAR meanwhile is obviously a far more contentious issue: the last time the Seagulls travelled up to Tyneside back in October, Newcastle saw all three points robbed after dominating the game, and seeing a clear penalty denied after Lewis Hall was brought down by Joel Veltman.
Regardless of the technology however, Newcastle will head into next month’s fixture as the firm favourites to progress, and many will hope that a positive outcome from the semi-automated offside tests will benefit Newcastle and their attack-heavy, momentum-focused play a lot better.
