How video review works: what a referee can and cannot review

Video review exists in football for one narrow purpose: to correct clear mistakes in a small set of match-changing decisions. It is not a second referee and it does not re-run the match. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which writes the Laws of the Game, sets out the process in its VAR protocol, and once you know the rules, most arguments about it become easier to follow.

Who is actually deciding

A video assistant referee is a match official, not a technician, with independent access to match footage. The VAR and one or more assistant VARs watch from a video operation room and can hear what the officials on the field say, but they can only speak to the referee when they choose to. Two principles matter most: only the referee can start a review, and the final decision is always the referee's. The VAR can recommend a review, nothing more. Use of the system is only permitted where the competition organiser has met the implementation requirements and received written permission from FIFA.

What can be reviewed

The protocol lists four categories of match-changing decision, plus one optional extra:

• Goal or no goal, including any offence in the build-up.
• Penalty kick or no penalty kick.
• A direct red card, but not a second caution.
• Mistaken identity, when the wrong player is cautioned or sent off.
• An incorrectly awarded corner kick, where a competition chooses to use that option and the decision can be changed without delaying the restart.

The threshold is high on purpose

An original decision is only changed where the footage shows a clear and obvious error, or a serious incident the officials missed. The VAR checks every goal, penalty and red card incident automatically, so players do not need to request anything. Slow motion is used for facts such as the point of contact or a player's position, while normal speed is used to judge the intensity of an offence. There is no time limit on the review process, because accuracy is treated as more important than speed.

What is off limits

Second cautions cannot be reviewed, and if play has already restarted the referee may not review anything except mistaken identity or a potential sending-off for violent conduct, spitting, biting or abusive behaviour. Players and team officials are also not allowed to surround the referee or try to influence a review or its outcome. IFAB publishes the full text at theifab.com, and fifa.com sets out the conditions competitions must meet before they may use video officials.

The bottom line: video review is a narrow correction tool for four kinds of decision, judged against a clear and obvious error. Anything outside that short list stays with the referee on the field.