Major League Soccer hosted the world's second workshop on experiments with video assistant referees (VARs) during a three-day session July 19-21 at Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls.



SOUNDBITE: (English) David Elleray, The IFAB (International Football Association Board): "And it's important to emphasize this is run by IFAB, assisted by FIFA. It's not a FIFA experiment, it's The IFAB, which is the world body responsible for the laws of the game and it's under that aegis that this experiment is being run. So firstly it's only for clear errors and for missed incidents in our pre defined match changing situations. You can't go beyond the protocol. The referee will always make the final decision. Not the man watching the replay. He will be a video assistant referee, like an assistant referee with a flag, an additional assistant referee on the goal line he is there to assist the referee. But ultimately, as per the laws of the game the referee remains the ultimate decision maker."



SOUNDBITE: (English) Lukas Brud,The IFAB (International Football Association Board): "The two of us, we actually visited the NFL and the NBA to see how they are applying this service to the referee. It was quite interesting for us because when we came back from this trip we said, ok technology-wise? The box is ticked. This is not an issue. This is something that already exists we just need to tailor make it for football."



SOUNDBITE: (English) David Elleray, The IFAB (International Football Association Board): "And we have to remember that this isn't a trial to bring video technology into football. It's a trial to see if video technology benefits football. And the outcome might be that the price you pay to improve the decision making is too high because of the impact on the game. So at least what we're doing is using the top leagues with the best facilities we've produced, what we believe is the best experiment to give this the greatest chance of success. If it doesn't succeed it won't be for want of trying to give it a really good go. And I think we have that duty to football. Because it's been such a debate in football: why does almost every other sport use technology and soccer doesdn't. We're at a stage where we have to try it."