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Pierluigi Collina has said he would be in favour of the use of VAR to determine whether corners have been correctly awarded at the World Cup next summer. The chair of Fifa’s referees committee, speaking at a media briefing in Washington, made clear he supported the advance of technology.
Collina said conversations were taking place over whether VAR could adjudicate on second yellow cards. They will continue at the next meeting of the International Football Association Board, the law-making body, in Wales next March, meaning there would be time for the ruling to come into effect for the World Cup. Collina also said discussions were ongoing over how best to combat time-wasting, including when goalkeepers go to ground, seemingly feigning injury to allow managers to hold team meetings. He added that Fifa wanted to explore AI-based innovations to help match officials and improve the game, although he gave no details on this.
Wenger backs France as 'super-favourite' for 2026 World Cup
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Arsène Wenger has described France as the “super-favourite” for next summer’s World Cup based on their enviable attacking options and major tournament knowhow.
The former Arsenal manager, who is now Fifa’s chief of global football development, cannot see beyond his native France, who won the World Cup in 2018 and were the runners-up in 2022.
The France manager, Didier Deschamps, can call upon an array of talent for his front line including Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Hugo Ekitiké, Marcus Thuram, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise.
Wenger was asked to assess England’s chances and he essentially called them nearly men, though he accepted they too had the quality to win. However, it was not long before he found himself talking up France.
“England will be one of the favourites,” Wenger said. “They are always nearly there to win it – semi-finals, quarter-final, final. They have to make the next step. They have the quality to do it.
“I believe in Europe, trying to be as objective as possible, that France is the super-favourite just for one reason – it is the country which has more world-class strikers than any other country in the world. By having four knockout stages [in the expanded 48-team tournament] … to have such a bench with such good quality will make a difference.
“There is one thing that is important in life is that when you know you can do it … when you have done something, it gives you something extra, the belief that you can do it. France has been in the last two finals so we know they can be there and they have the quality of the players.” David Hytner
Photograph: Michael Regan/FIFA
The Italian was most strident on VAR and the award of corners, saying he lived in fear of a wrongly awarded kick leading to a decisive goal in a big game. The technology could be used to assess whether the ball had fully crossed the line or which team had last touched it. The major factor in whether such a move could be viable was the potential delay to the game.
“We are in a process of discussions,” Collina said. “We should all have the objective to make correct decisions on the field of play. It would be a pity if the result of a competition is decided not by what the players do on the field of play but by an honest mistake made by the decision-maker. This is what convinced us 13, 14 years ago to start thinking how to support referees [with technology]. So if we can get this, to me, it’s positive.
“The main criteria is no delay. With corners, there is a physiological delay because when a corner is given, normally you wait until the two centre-backs come up. It normally takes 10-15 seconds to get the attackers ready. In these 10-15 seconds, if the corner kick is wrongly given … everybody has the evidence that the start of play is wrong and to me it’s difficult to understand if they have the possibility to see that [the decision is wrong] … why we have to hide our heads under the sand and hope that nothing happens on the corner kick which is taken?
“This is my opinion as I live matches in important competitions hoping the result is determined by what the players do on the field of play … If I can avoid to have this kind of circumstance I would be happy. But the main idea – no delay. Nobody wants to introduce any further delay.”
