How VAR Works in Football — What It Can and Can't Review

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) changed football forever — and confused plenty of fans along the way. Here's how it actually works.

VAR can only review four things

1. Goals — and any offence in the build-up (offside, handball, foul)
2. Penalty decisions — awarded or not awarded
3. Straight red cards — not second yellows
4. Mistaken identity — booking the wrong player

Everything else — corners, throw-ins, second yellows, general fouls — is untouchable, no matter how wrong.

The "clear and obvious" threshold

VAR is not meant to re-referee the game. For subjective calls (fouls, handballs), it only intervenes when the on-field decision is a clear and obvious error. That's why two similar incidents can end differently: if the referee's call is merely debatable, VAR stays silent.

Factual calls are different. Offside and whether the ball left play are binary — there's no "clear and obvious" filter, which is why millimetre offsides get overturned.

What actually happens during a check

1. The VAR team watches every incident live in a review hub.
2. If they spot a possible error in the four categories, they run a silent check — play often continues.
3. For factual decisions (offside), VAR simply tells the referee the answer.
4. For subjective ones, the referee is sent to the pitchside monitor — and in practice, referees change their call at the screen the vast majority of the time.

Why fans still argue

• The threshold for "clear and obvious" is itself subjective
• Long delays kill goal celebrations
• Handball interpretations shift season to season

Love it or hate it, VAR decisions swing titles and relegations. Watch the big calls unfold on our live scores page, see their effect on the standings, and check when the next big match kicks off in fixtures.

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