FIFA is planning to move ahead with a trial of expanded Video Assistant Referee (VAR) use to cover corner kick decisions at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, even though the idea was rejected by domestic leagues at the last International Football Association Board (Ifab) meeting in October.
Ifab, which governs the laws of football, did agree to expand VAR to cover incorrectly shown second yellow cards that result in a red card. However, FIFA’s corner kick proposal failed to pass and will require the organization to establish a specific trial mechanism for the World Cup.
FIFA’s Head of Referees, Pierluigi Collina, is a strong supporter of this change and is open to further VAR expansion, suggesting that any quickly identifiable error could be reviewed.
Previous FIFA competitions have been used to trial new technologies, such as semi-automated offside technology and referees announcing VAR decisions to the crowd.
The proposed measures will be discussed further at the next Ifab meeting in January.
