Roll out of VAR in Europa League Group stages to be delayed due to Covid-19 restraints

Uefa have announced that VAR will not be used in the Europa League Group stages in 2020/2021 as had initially been envisioned.

In a further fall out from the pandemic, Uefa have decided against introducing VAR for the first time in the Group stages of the competition but have committed to once again using it from the Last 32 stage.

Video Assistant Referee’s were already not in use in the qualification rounds but last season it was decided to introduce them in the knockout stages of the competition which Uefa successfully did before world football was brought to a stand still by Covid-19.

Uefa said in a short statement this evening that the decision was being taken due to the issues that may have arisen involving VAR’s “operational capabilities and given that additional personnel might be required to run the service” due to the protocols which must be adhered to at present.

Earlier today it was confirmed by the governing body that spectators would not be allowed into their events until further notice, including the qualifciation rounds for the Europa League and Champions League which will have Irish involvement.

    About Gareth O'Reilly

    Gareth is the Editor of Extratime.ie. Gareth began as a normal reporter covering games all over Dublin before being asked to help out with behind the scene activities and eventually moving into the role of … View Full Profile