We were at the iliad International Broadcast Center in Lissone, near Milan, where all the VAR rooms of the Lega Serie A are located. Unlike what one might think, in fact, the VAR rooms are not inside the stadiums but are concentrated in this building. There are 8 in total, since between advances and postponements there are never more than 8 matches at the same time.
VAR, an acronym for “Video Assistant Referee,” is a tool available to referees that is used to analyze video images in real time. Various cameras are positioned in each stadium: in the “Standard A” model, the most advanced, there are around 20. These are very high quality cameras: some have super SLO-MO, others are equipped with a very powerful zoom. There
Most of these cameras are the same ones we see on TV, while others could be dedicated only to VAR analysis. The rule is that all the cameras that frame the pitch must be made available to the VAR: this means that if a TV wants to position additional cameras, such as behind the goal or a drone, these must also be made available to the VAR. VAR.
The speed of the signal
Video images travel from the stadiums to Lissone in less than a second, thanks to optical fibre. This speed allows the VAR room to communicate with the referee on the pitch in practically real time. Since the video images all arrive at the iliad International Broadcast Center in Lissone, the graphic part of the Serie A matches is also taken care of here, such as the virtualization of advertising billboards and the color correction of the pitches.
The interior of a VAR room
The first thing you notice when entering a VAR room is that there are no windows. The entire environment was designed to isolate the referees while avoiding external distractions. Initially, when VAR was introduced, booths were set up in stadiums, but referees were more exposed to the pressures associated with that environment. Curiosity: the referees arrive at the center of Lissone in suits and ties, just like they did when they went to the stadium. Just before the match they change into the official match uniform. Also in this case it is a psychological factor that allows the referee to enter match mode
How VAR works
The referees in the VAR room communicate with the pitch via a red button, which opens the audio link. While those in the VAR room always receive the audio from the pitch, to do the opposite you have to press the button. If during the match the VAR notices a possible foul that was not called, they do not pause the video, but press another green button, which makes a marker appear on the timeline of their monitors. Only when the action is over do you go back and watch the episode again. This does not always happen: in order not to slow down the game too much, the VAR can only intervene in 4 cases: awarding a goal, penalty kick, direct expulsion and mistaken identity, and in any case only in the case of a clear and obvious error. Once the episode is identified, a loop is created to watch it again.
How semi-automatic offside and Goal Line Technology work
The functioning of offside is different: for some years there has been semi-automatic offside (SAOT), a technology that operates in parallel to VAR. It consists of 10 crossed cameras that track in real time the movements of the exoskeletons of all the players on the pitch and of the ball. When a forward pass is launched, the SAOT recognizes it and automatically sends a colored flag on the VAR timeline: green (regular position), red (offside) or orange (offside by less than 1 metre). However, a footballer can also be in a “passive” offside position, not participating in the action, and for this reason human control is needed, which makes it “semi-automatic”.
Goal Line Technology is also a technology that operates in parallel with VAR. 12 dedicated cameras, 6 per goal, provide images for video control and send a signal to the referee’s watch on the pitch, making it vibrate if the ball crosses the goal line. All thanks to camera data, without chips in the ball or sensors in the goal. Curiosity: the system is calibrated at the beginning of the season to recognize only official, certified balls. With a different ball, Goal Line Technology would not work.
Technology’s margin for error
Yet, despite all this technology, a margin of error always remains. VAR was a huge innovation, giving referees extra tools for their work. As in Science, however, here too the interpretation of the data is not always perfect, and a certain degree of uncertainty is part of the process. The introduction of VAR was born with the aim of bringing clarity to the world of football and gave the possibility of knowing what the processes behind refereeing decisions are, with greater transparency than what could be done in the past.
