Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia: No Sweat For Video Referee World Cup VAR Debut

By Admin Video assistant referees had the quietest of evenings as the review system made an uneventful debut at the World Cup on Thursday. Russia's emphatic 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia was devoid of any controversy, and the four video officials in the control room some 30 kilometres from Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium were not called upon to intervene. Argentinian referee Nestor Pitana also rarely had to get involved on the field of play, although he did show two yellow cards in the closing minutes. The four VAR officials, sitting in a room at the International Broadcasting Centre on the outskirts of Moscow, were in their full refereeing gear to get them in the right frame of mind, and because, says former top referee Pierluigi Collina, it's a stressful job. "They are sweating. It's not like watching a game on the couch while drinking coffee, so it is not possible to go there dressed as as a clerk, with shirt, tie and jacket," Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, had said. Pitana did have cause to rule out a penalty for Russia in the first half, without recourse to a video review. And in one sign of the new influence of VAR on the game, the assistant referee's flag stayed down on what looked like an offside position - in accordance with new instructions to let play to continue to allow the possibility of a goal and video review. But that was about it on a quiet day at the VAR office when officials could perhaps have put their feet up and enjoyed the coffee.