Radical new VAR rules could be introduced for the 2026 World Cup

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 30 Oct 2025 06:08 CDT
• 3 min read

News

Major proposals have been made for an overhaul to football's Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system before the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The competition will be the biggest in history, with 48 teams set to feature in matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

And the tournament could be the first to feature a radical new way for games to be officiated, with a major change in VAR potentially incoming.

Presently, only 'key match incidents' such as goals, penalties and straight red cards are addressed by the officials in the video booth, yet the responsibilities of these referees could be significantly expanded.

The International FA Board’s Football and Technical Advisory Panels (IFAB), which is made up of former players, coaches and referees, and is responsible for overseeing the laws of the game, held a meeting this week to discuss rule changes.

Perhaps the most important alteration that was discussed is with regard to second yellow cards. There is no VAR intervention possible for these incidents under the current laws, yet this could be amended.

Manchester City's Rico Lewis was the victim of such a controversial call last season, when he was shown a harsh second yellow card in a clash against Crystal Palace.

Former Chelsea star Pat Nevin told BBC Sport: “Surely a second yellow so wrongly flashed should elicit a quiet word in the referee’s ear from the goggle-box watchers back at Stockley Park?”

If the new proposals are pushed through, that will be the case and such errors avoided.

Long throws to be transformed

Everyone knows there's a new tactical trend taking over the Premier League.

Long balls and set-piece routines are now commonplace in the top-flight, while long throws into the penalty area are back in vogue.

With that in mind, IFAB are also looking to implement new rules for these situations.

At the moment, there are no official rules in place for how long a player can take to throw the ball back into play.

The Guardian reports that a new clock could be introduced that will limit this time, akin to the timer that is placed on goalkeepers when they have the ball in their hands.

The aim here is to increase the amount of time the ball is in open play.

At the beginning of the current season, a new rule was put in place to limit the amount of time a goalkeeper can hold onto the ball to eight seconds. If this is exceeded, the opposing team is awarded a corner kick.

Official IFAB statement

"In relation to the video assistant referee (VAR) protocol, it was discussed that, among others, the video match officials (VMO) should have the possibility to intervene when an incorrect second yellow card has been given.

"A relevant proposal will be submitted to the Ifab’s Annual Business Meeting, which is due to meet on 20 January 2026 in London.

"Deliberations included whether the countdown principle could be applied to throw-ins and goal kicks and how to reduce the amount of time lost owing to stoppages caused by injuries and substitutions."