Former Spain international, David Villa, now playing for New York City, has become the first person to be sent off by a referee making use of the Video Assisted Referee (VAR) system for a red-card decision.
Villa was sent off in his team’s defeat to Houston Dynamo on Saturday night after the referee was able to use the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system to review footage of him punching an opponent in the face.
Fifa’s VAR initiative has been on trial in the Major League Soccer (MLS) pre-season in the US, and it is believed that if the technology proves to be a success there, it will be implemented during the second-half of the 2017 season.
Match officials can call on the technology to assist them in making 'game-changing' decisions, including goals, penalty appeals and direct red card incidents.
The use of video technology in other American sporting leagues – such as the NBA, NFL, MLB and the HHL – is commonplace.
Former Valencia and Barcelona striker Villa landed himself in hot water when he threw a punch at Dynamo midfielder AJ DeLaGarza in the first half, as both players tried to win the ball following an Andrea Pirlo corner. Villa lashed out in response to being held by DeLaGarza.
The referee, Nima Saghafi, first showed Villa a yellow card, but after running to the touchline to re-watch the incident on the VAR monitor, he reversed his decision and instead red-carded the former Spain striker.
Villa and his New York City team-mates were less than impressed – prompting another minor brawl between both sets of players – and he eventually exited the field of play three minutes and 44 seconds after first making contact with DeLaGarza.
Despite the technology helping Saghafi to make the correct decision, the amount of time it took him to reverse his decision will add weight to the arguments of those who claim the VAR system is too slow to be adopted by Fifa.
