Video helps football referees tell their yellows from reds

Video helps football referees tell their yellows from reds

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) systems used in football (soccer) around the world, including in Australia’s A-League, do not appear to influence a referee into thinking an incident was more intentional, according to UK researchers.

The slow-motion replays used in the system were initially believed to make an incident appear more intentional, potentially leading to a harsher red card dismissal rather than a yellow card warning, but the study found referees were not biased when making decisions based on slow-motion and it instead helped them to make a better decision.

Source: Royal Society Open Science