La Liga set to introduce VAR

Sporting Tribune
VAR will be used in La Liga from next season. EFE

Video assistant referee (VAR) is set to be used in La Liga from next season onwards, according to the president of the Spanish FA.

Juan Luis Larrea said he expects the Spanish top tier to follow Serie A and the Bundesliga by using the video technology, from the start of the 2018-19 season.

When asked about the introduction of VAR, Larrea told Spanish radio station ‘Cadena SER’: “For next season. That is our intention.

“Technology is now coming into football and you have to accept it.”

Larrea also said that tests would be carried out on the technology in over 70 matches before it was rolled out across La Liga.

VAR is used to review goals, red cards, penalties and cases of mistaken identity, and it has been tested across the world, including in Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands.

However, since being introduced in Italy it has not been universally popular.

Gianluigi Buffon criticised VAR, saying it was “making the game ugly”. Meanwhile, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri joked that Serie A “will become like baseball in the United States, we stay 10 hours at the stadium eating peanuts”.

La lIga is the only one out of Europe’s top five leagues to not even have goal-line technology, as the league’s president claims it is too expensive.

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