Live VAR to debut during A-League Men’s Final Series | Football Australia

This innovation will enable fans to hear the centre referee declare their final decisions and rationale after conducting on-field and any lengthy factual reviews undertaken by VAR.

The A-Leagues will become the first league within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to implement this process, where this initiative aims to enhance transparency into the decision-making process undertaken by the match officials.

Football Australia CEO, James Johnson remarked: “As the first nation to adopt VAR in a top-tier national competition when we introduced it into the A-League in the 2016/17 season, Football Australia has always led globally in this space. We have continued to advocate globally for more innovation and this evolution marks a significant step forward in Football Australia’s commitment to enhancing the clarity and the experience for the fans, players, coaches, and match officials.

“As we saw during last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup where the same process and technology was introduced for the first time, we are confident that this new communication layer will improve the understanding of VAR decisions, positively impact the overall experience, and increase transparency in the process.”

Commenting on the introduction, A-Leagues Commissioner, Nick Garcia said: "It’s exciting to be able to introduce this technology with Football Australia in time for the Isuzu UTE A-League Men Finals Series to bring fans closer to the game we all love, whether they are in the stadium or watching from home.

“This technology will add more transparency to the referees’ decision-making process to give fans, players and coaches more insight on matchday, and what better stage to have this ready for than our 2024 Final Series.”

The process will