FIFA is preparing to move forward with plans to introduce VAR checks on the awarding of corner kicks at the 2026 World Cup, even though domestic leagues have rejected the idea for the wider game.
At an October meeting of the International Football Association Board, which is responsible for the laws of the sport, members agreed that VAR could be expanded to review incorrect second yellow cards that lead to a sending off.
However, FIFA’s suggestion to include corners in VAR protocol was dismissed, meaning the governing body must create its own trial when the tournament takes place in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.
The topic will be discussed again when FIFA meets in January, although FIFA has routinely tested innovations in its own competitions.
Semi-automated offside decisions and referees announcing VAR outcomes to supporters are both examples of earlier trials, and FIFA could rely on the same approach to begin reviewing corner kick decisions.
Pierluigi Collina, who leads refereeing for FIFA, has long supported the change as part of a broader review of how VAR is used.
Collina has also suggested that the system could extend even further, believing that any clear mistake that can be quickly identified by VAR should be communicated to the referee.
He has previously pointed to an incident in the Euro 2016 final when Portugal received a free kick for a handball that did not occur. The decision almost resulted in a goal and highlighted the type of situation he believes technology could prevent.
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche was angered earlier this season when his side conceded two goals from corners that should not have been awarded.
But unless Ifab adjusts its position, he will not see such decisions reviewed in future league matches.
Domestic leagues continue to face pressure to keep interruptions caused by VAR to a minimum, and there is strong resistance to anything that might slow the game even further.
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham, who serves on the IFAB board, has previously told BBC Sport that he does not support the proposal.
The introduction of VAR checks for wrongly issued second yellow cards is likely to be approved for next season because those incidents occur far less frequently than corner kicks. In the Premier League alone, there are roughly ten corners in every match.
A major obstacle for domestic leagues is resources, especially in the lower divisions, while FIFA has the capacity to appoint as many video officials as it needs for a major tournament.
At the 2022 World Cup, group stage matches had a team of five operating in the VAR room, while most leagues rely on only two.
Along with the VAR and assistant VAR, FIFA also appointed a specialist for offside decisions, a support VAR and a support assistant VAR.
FIFA can also place a sufficient number of cameras in the right locations to ensure decisions are made quickly, something that is far more difficult for domestic leagues to guarantee.
The connected technology inside the Adidas match ball, which leagues do not have access to, also allows VAR officials to determine instantly which player last touched the ball in close situations.
These advantages are simply not available to leagues in their regular seasons.
Even at the Premier League level, there have been occasions when not every part of the goal line has been captured by cameras. This problem became evident with Newcastle’s controversial winning goal against Arsenal two years ago, when VAR officials lacked the footage to confirm whether the ball had gone out of play.
If corners were added to the list of incidents that VAR must review, all leagues that use the system would need to check every corner. This would include the Premier League, the Scottish Premiership, the Dutch Eredivisie and the second tiers in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Such a change would cause considerable additional delays since most leagues do not have the means to reach quick and consistent decisions.
For these reasons, FIFA has been unable to persuade the IFAB panels to approve the measure, so it appears likely that it will press ahead with its own trial during the World Cup.
How will the system operate at the World Cup
A fundamental aspect of the Laws of the Game that applies at every level is that a referee cannot change a restart decision once play has resumed, even if the referee realises the original call was incorrect.
For this reason, once a corner is taken and the match is in motion, play must continue.
This means every corner will have to be reviewed by the VAR team before it is taken, although most decisions will be straightforward.
FIFA believes it has the people, the technology and the ball data required to make these checks efficiently.
This approach will represent a change from the current VAR protocol, which focuses solely on goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity. At next year’s World Cup, the awarding of corners is expected to be added to that list.
If only corners that directly produced a goal were checked, an attacking team that realised the referee should have awarded a goal kick could deliberately take a short corner, knowing that a goal scored immediately from the set piece would be ruled out by VAR. They could then attempt to create a chance from open play after the short pass. Since the goal would not come directly from the corner, it would stand.
By reviewing every corner before it is taken, FIFA believes it can remove this loophole and maintain fairness throughout the competition.