VAR, double fault, offside: here's what will change

Three days of Standard-Ghent which will open the ball 2018-2019, Johan Verbist, boss of the referees, takes stock of new arbitration. No big revolution to report but some important points anyway.

Starting with the now famous VAR. Unlike last season, the Video Assistant Referee will be present on all D1A games, as of Friday. To do this, ten referees have been trained and appointed VAR Referee and four (Lardot, Laforge, Van Driessche and Verboomen) are taking the training to obtain the rank. As during the World Cup, images showing the team placed in the van will be broadcast before the match and during it if a phase is under investigation.

Last year, a player requesting the intervention of the VAR to the referee automatically received a yellow card. This year, it will not be the case if the gesture is considered "discreet, serene and without insistence" . The D1B will still have to wait to get the VAR.

Another change, the double fault. If a player commits a foul, the referee leaves the advantage but the same player commits another foul (in the continuity of the action therefore), he will be doubly sanctioned. In concrete terms, if both fouls are worth a yellow card, the player will receive them and be excluded. In the past, the player was sanctioned only for his second fault.

For the offside rule, badistant referees were cautioned to raise their flag only when the position is obvious. In contentious cases, the game will continue until the outcome of the phase is known.

Finally, last change, a little more anecdotal, the return to touch of type "pirouette" are formally prohibited. They will be directly sanctioned with a yellow card. We remember that in the playoffs last season, Collins Fai tested himself against Anderlecht.