SAFF inaugurates the Unified Center for Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology

2022-02-10
15:24:01

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation will launch the unified center for the video assistant referee (VAR) technology, starting from the 20th round of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Professional Cup League, which begins today, Thursday, February 10, in addition to a number of Yelo First Division League matches.

This step comes as part of SAFF steps to keep pace with developments in global football, so that the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Professional Cup League is the seventh league in the world after the English, Spanish, German, Dutch, French and Swiss leagues, in addition to partially adopting the unified center system In UEFA Champions League, and applied for the first time in the 2018 World Cup.

The move to establish a unified center for VAR technology aims to raise the technology regulation mechanism, through which match data will be fully collected and analyzed faster.

The first stage of the center will be dedicated to the matches that will be held at the stadiums of King Abdullah Sports City in Buraidah, Prince Muhammad bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, and Al Majmaah Sports City Stadium, to be completed in the second stage of the rest of the stadiums.

The unified center will train referees on the latest video assistant referee (VAR) technologies, in addition to being an approved center by the International Football Association Board (FIFA) to hold referee courses.

The center contains 6 integrated stations such as video technology rooms, so that each station is for a separate match with all its equipment.

Each room includes a video referee and two assistant video referees, knowing that the center is equipped with main and backup networks with automatic switching.

The headquarters of the unified center for video assistant referee includes an administrative and technical work area, and includes two main offices and a number of branch offices for management staff, in addition to a meeting room for training and development.