VAR added to referee Rob Hennessy’s match official team for UEFA Nations League tie

Rob Hennessy ahead of last year's FAI Cup Final

Rob Hennessy ahead of last year's FAI Cup Final Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

On Tuesday Irish referee Rob Hennessy will lead a team of Irish match officials which will use VAR for the UEFA Nations League game between Faroe Islands and Luxembourg in Torshavn.

The League C Group 1 game will mark the first time a team of match officials from the Republic of Ireland will oversee a UEFA Nations League game with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) available to them.

The 31-year-old referee will have Wayne McDonnell and Rob Clarke running the line for him with Rob Harvey as the Fourth Official. The VAR Assistants are from Italy.

Hennessy completed two courses held by UEFA in Turkey involving a mix of theory and practical work around the use of VAR and he observed the process during recent games at the Aviva Stadium when VAR was in operation.

Elite Referee Allocations officer Tomás Connolly said: "This appointment for an important game in the UEFA Nations League reflects the growing stature that Irish match officials are being held in by UEFA on the back of many successful performances at both international and domestic level.”

Hennessy has been a League of Ireland official since 2013 progressing to join the FIFA panel in 2017. He has experience in officiating in European club and country games and was the referee for last year's FAI Cup final between Bohemians and St. Patrick’s Athletic.

At international level he was in charge of the EURO2020 qualifier between Austria and Latvia and Estonia’s 4-2 win in Belarus and he was the lead official for the 1-1 draw between Scotland and Poland at Hampden Park in March this year. 

Meanwhile a team of Slovakian officials will be in charge of Ireland's home game against Ukraine next Wednesday. Filip Glova will be the main match offiical.

He was in charge of the Dundalk's match against Arsenal at the Emirates in the Europa League Group stages in 2020.

 



    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile