Video Assistant Referees Could Be Used In EFL Cup First Round Next Season

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

Video Assistant Referees could be deployed in English football as early as August when the EFL Cup first round takes place.

France's Antoine Griezmann dejected during the game in which video official corrected two wrong decisions during Tuesday night’s friendly between France and Spain

Press Association report continues:

The Football Association has indicated VARs could be trialled in next season’s FA Cup, beginning in January 2018 with the FA Cup third round when Premier League teams join the competition.

But, if a trial is approved by the EFL board, VARs could be used in the EFL Cup from as soon as the first round.

EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said on Wednesday: “As part of a trial the board will consider allowing the EFL Cup to be utilized.

“There are a number of rounds of the EFL Cup prior to that (the FA Cup third round).

“Theoretically it could happen from the first round of the EFL Cup, which would be a team no higher than the Championship down to League Two.”

VARs are currently being trialled, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino keen to employ the system during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The video official in Tuesday night’s friendly between France and Spain corrected two wrong decisions - disallowing an offside effort by Antoine Griezmann and awarding a goal for Gerard Deulofeu after an incorrect offside flag. Spain won 2-0 in Paris.

Approval for VARs to be employed in the EFL Cup could come as soon as May.

There is likely to be a longer wait before VARs can be utilized in the Championship, League One and League Two, due to the lack of cameras currently available across stadia.

Although some stadia will have the capacity to utilize VARs in the league, the EFL believe it is important for the same facilities to be available throughout.

Chief Executive of The Football League Shaun Harvey on stage during the Football League Awards 2015 at The Brewery in London.

Goal line technology is likely to come into the Championship for the first time next season.

Harvey, who on Wednesday spoke at SportsPro Live where he talked about new streaming product iFollow, added: “One of the real challenges is the integrity of the games.

“If you don’t have the technology available at every single game in the competition, does that potentially have a negative impact on the competition as a whole?

“Ultimately (in the EFL Cup) it doesn’t matter then if it’s not used at every single game in that round because each individual game is a knockout game in its own right.”