VAR explained: what the video referee can and cannot review

The video assistant referee is not there to referee the match a second time. It is there to catch a few serious mistakes, and the rules saying which ones are short and often misunderstood.

This is how VAR works under the Laws of the Game 2026/27, which took effect on 1 July 2026 and widened what it may review.

What is VAR for?

A VAR is a match official with independent access to the footage, working from a video operation room with assistant VARs and replay operators. A competition may only use VAR once it meets the requirements of the VAR Handbook and has written permission from FIFA.

Preparing the first VAR experiments in 2016, IFAB summed up the idea as "minimum interference, maximum benefit": video steps in only for incidents that change a match, so the flow and emotion of the game are not lost to constant interruptions. Today the VAR may help the referee only with a "clear and obvious error" or a "serious missed incident", and only in a short list of situations.

What does "clear and obvious error" mean?

The referee must always decide first, as if there were no VAR. Waiting for the video instead is not allowed, but letting play continue counts as a decision and can be reviewed. That original decision stands unless the replay clearly shows it was wrong.

The protocol separates two kinds of question. Facts, such as where an offence happened, whether a player was in an offside position, the point of contact or whether the ball was out, are checked in slow motion and usually settled on the VAR's information alone. Judgements, such as the intensity of a challenge, interference at offside or whether a handball is an offence, are watched at normal speed, and the referee should see them personally.

What can VAR review?

For years the list had four categories. From 2026/27 it has five:

• Goal or no goal. An attacking offence in the build-up or the scoring (handball, foul, offside), the ball out of play before the goal, whether it was a goal at all, and offences by the goalkeeper or kicker at a penalty kick.
• Penalty or no penalty. An attacking offence in the build-up, the ball out of play beforehand, whether the offence was inside or outside the area, a penalty wrongly given and a penalty offence missed.
• Red cards. Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, serious foul play, violent conduct, biting or spitting, offensive, insulting or abusive actions, and now a clearly incorrect second caution.
• Mistaken identity. A yellow or red card shown to the wrong player, from either team. Only the identity of the offender is reviewed, not whether the offence happened.
• A clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, only where the competition has chosen to use it and only if the decision can be changed immediately without delaying the restart.

Can VAR check a second yellow card?

Yes, since 2026/27, but in one direction only. If a player is sent off for a second caution that was clearly wrong, the VAR can help the referee correct it. IFAB's own example is an attacker shown a second yellow for a foul on a defender who in fact dived: after a review the second yellow and the red card are cancelled, and the defender is cautioned for simulation.

What VAR cannot do is look for a second yellow the referee missed. A reckless tackle by a player already on a caution, unseen by the referee, is not reviewable.

What can't VAR review?

Anything outside the five categories: an ordinary yellow card, a free kick in midfield, a throw-in, a goal kick, or a corner where the competition has not taken the option. Restart decisions cannot be changed once play has restarted.

Timing matters too. Once play has stopped and restarted, the referee may only review mistaken identity or a possible sending-off for violent conduct, spitting, biting or extremely offensive, insulting or abusive actions. A missed penalty can no longer be given.

Players and coaches cannot ask for a review. The VAR checks every relevant incident automatically, so there is nothing to request.

What is the difference between a check and a review?

A check happens on every goal, penalty, red card and possible mistaken identity, from several camera angles and at different speeds. Most are silent: the VAR finds no clear error and says nothing. If the restart has to wait, the referee holds a finger to the earpiece and extends the other arm until the check is over.

A review is the next step, and only the referee can start one, on the VAR's recommendation or because the referee suspects something serious was missed. If play is still going, the referee stops it when the ball is next in a neutral zone, usually when neither team is attacking, and shows the TV signal. In an on-field review the referee goes to the referee review area and watches the footage. In a VAR-only review the referee decides on the VAR's information, which is usual for factual questions.

Who makes the final decision, the referee or VAR?

Always the referee. The VAR has the same status as the other match officials and can only assist. At the end of a review the referee shows the TV signal and gives the final decision, which follows what the footage shows: a review started for a possible red card can end in a yellow. A competition may also have the referee announce and explain the decision publicly; the protocol leaves that to each competition.

Players must not surround the referee or try to influence the review. A player or team official who enters the referee review area or makes the TV signal excessively is cautioned; one who enters the video operation room is sent off.

How does play restart after a VAR review?

The referee takes, changes or cancels any disciplinary action and restarts play according to the Laws. In IFAB's examples, a penalty cancelled because the attacker dived becomes an indirect free kick to the defending team, with a caution for the attacker. A penalty cancelled because a handball was not an offence restarts with a dropped ball for the defending goalkeeper if the referee whistled before the ball went out, or with a corner kick if it was already out.

If play went on before the review, cards shown in the meantime still stand, even when the original decision changes. The exception is a caution or sending-off for stopping a promising attack or denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Why do some VAR reviews take so long?

Because the protocol puts accuracy ahead of speed and sets no time limit. Some situations contain several reviewable decisions at once, which the protocol gives as the reason there is no maximum. For a goal, a penalty or a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity, the VAR may go back through the whole attacking phase, including how the team won the ball. The referee can also ask for more angles and replay speeds.

At its 2026 annual general meeting IFAB agreed that, ten years after VAR was introduced, the protocol is worth reviewing to make the system more efficient and fairer. Until then, the right decision matters more than a quick one.

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, VAR protocol, IFAB Law 5, The Referee, IFAB Law 8, The Start and Restart of Play, IFAB law changes 2026/27, IFAB Circular 32, IFAB Circular 7.