How does the Football Video Support works?

Maltese football will be using technology for the first time in its history when the Football Video Support will be trialled in four matches of the Jubilee Cup Last 16 that will be played between Wednesday and Thursday.

The four matches that will see match officials being supported by this innovative technology are Marsaxlokk vs Hibernians and Sliema Wanderers vs Birkirkara, scheduled for Wednesday, and Żabbar SP vs Naxxar Lions and Gżira United vs Tarxien Rainbows that will be played on Thursday at the Centenary Stadium.

Below is a quick summary on how the innovative technology will work to remove clear and obvious referee errors…

■ The FVS system is used only in the event of a possible clear and obvious error or serious missed incident in relation to the following scenarios: a. Goal/no goal b. Penalty/no penalty c. Direct red cards (not second cautions) d. Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player of the offending team).

■ FVS can be used only once the referee has made a decision (with waving play on being considered a decision) and a team has made a subsequent request for a review.

■ Only the team’s head coach (or, in their absence, the senior team official present in the technical area) can make a review request, which must be made immediately after the incident, by twirling their finger in the air and giving a review request card to the fourth official. However, each player is entitled to ask their head coach to make a review request.

■ The fourth official will inform the referee of the review request and, if play has stopped (and not restarted) since the incident, the referee will go to the referee review area (RRA) to review the replay footage. If play has continued since the incident, the referee will stop play when the ball is in a neutral zone and go to the RRA to review the replay footage.

■ During the review, the referee will be assisted by a review operator, who will show replay footage on the monitor (e.g. different camera angles, split screen, different replay speeds, etc.).

■ The original decision taken by the referee will not be changed unless the video replay footage shows clear evidence that the decision was a clear and obvious error or that there has been a serious missed incident.

■ As the FVS system involves a small number of cameras, the replay footage will often be inconclusive and thus the original decision may not be changed.

■ The review request must be made immediately to: • conform to the Laws of the Game requirement that a decision cannot be changed once play has restarted after a stoppage; and • prevent unnecessary delays to the game while the team’s head coach considers whether to make a review request.

■ After a goal has been scored, the fourth official will check the footage on the monitor and inform the referee if a clear and obvious offence was committed by the attacking team. Unless the decision is factual, the referee will then review the incident and make the final decision.

■ During the trial phase, it is expected that each team will be able to make two requests per match. If the review by the referee results in the original decision being changed, the team retains (does not lose) that review request.