Why VAR is not used in the third round of the FA Cup
VAR dominates football discourse most weeks, and its use in the FA Cup for the 2024/25 season. it attracted a lot of attention while the third round matches are being played.
The technology has been part of the FA Cup process since 2017/18 but has been dropped from the third round for the current campaign, renewing the debate over VAR in England’s oldest cup competition.
But why was VAR abolished in the third round? FA Cup?
The FA has made changes to the implementation of VAR in this year’s competition, with the technology now only being used from the fifth round onwards.
Previously, VAR was used in the third and fourth rounds of the competition, but only in Premier Leaguee reasons. On the one hand this made sense as the top stadiums already had the technology, but it created an imbalance as different matches within the same round of the competition ultimately had different rules.
From the 2024/25 season. furthermore, VAR will be used everywhere in the fifth round regardless of venue, creating a fairer ecosystem within the competition.
In a statement on its decision, the FA said: “It has been agreed that VAR will be used for every match in the fifth round of the competition up to the final at Wembley Stadium, and will not be in operation for the third and fourth rounds of the round.
“VAR has previously only been used in the Emirates FA Cup for matches at Wembley Stadium and Premier League grounds due to the infrastructure, manpower and costs required to make it work.
“This decision ensures that there is a consistent approach to refereeing for all clubs participating in the same stage of the competition.”
VAR is unable to intervene in all scenarios, mainly because there is a reluctance to, for all intents and purposes, re-refere matches. West Ham United they would not have felt the benefit of VAR in their defeat Aston Villa on Friday night, for example, because the fact that referee Tim Robinson wrongly awarded a corner to the Villans does not fall into the four permitted categories.
VAR can intervene in the match in the following situations, and their task is to try to prevent the referee on the field from making a clear and obvious error.
The on-field referee makes the first call, along with his two sideline assistants (if necessary). The VAR will then intervene if they determine a mistake has been made, but they do not have the final say in the matter. The referee on the pitch will be sent to the pitchside monitor to review the evidence and determine whether or not a foul has been committed.
VAR can also be used to check whether the referee on the pitch was right to let play continue.