Football

Mai Xuân Hùng will be the first VAR referee of Việt Nam when the VAR technology is to operate officially at the V.League 1's Viettel vs Hà Tĩnh game on July 27 in Hà Nội. Photo zing.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will be officially applied in the V.League 1 in the match between Viettel and Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh on July 27.

The VAR referee is Mai Xuân Hùng who will be assisted by Dương Hữu Phúc. Phúc will take responsibility for watching the live action on the field to keep a record of reviewable incidents, and to communicate the outcome of a review to broadcasters.

The match will kick off at 7.15pm at the Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Hà Nội.

The organisers and the Việt Nam Football Federation's Referee Council worked with teams' officials and players to make sure a list of do and don't during the VAR-applied game.

The VAR will be used in up to five matches of the V.League 1's rest time. No critical matches will use the tech in order to avoid controversy.

"VAR use will support referees to give more accurate decisions and make the games fairer," said coach Nguyễn Thành Công of Hà Tĩnh.

"Things can be confusing the first few times we apply it but personally, I and Hong Linh Ha Tinh support the use of VAR."

VFF President Trần Quốc Tuấn said in fact VAR could not eliminate mistakes from the game, under its assistance, referees could still make wrong decisions. Therefore the human element in the VAR system would remain important.

He said some countries in the region, including Thailand, had successfully applied VAR while others were still preparing it to ensure fairness in domestic matches.

Earlier, 18 referees and referee assistants were selected to be trained in the first VAR course in Việt Nam. All of them passed tests by FIFA.

In the initial matches, FIFA will send an assistant to supervise and support the operation of VAR.

The world governing football body said the approval of VAR was only the first step of a long procedure. FIFA will observe the implementation of the technology for three years. VNS