UEFA launches Clear Line platform to clarify when VAR should intervene

UEFA has launched a new platform designed to establish a clear and consistent framework for the use of video assistant referees, setting out when and how VAR officials should intervene in matches.

Called Clear Line, the platform is already in use and brings together the situations, incidents, procedures and standards intended to explain how VAR technology should be applied. The initiative is aimed at addressing the continuing debate surrounding the role of video reviews in football.

The platform was reported by AS, which said it provides a guide that can be used by anyone seeking to understand the principles behind VAR decisions.

“The question everyone asks is: when should the video assistant referee intervene? This is the main issue. Nobody knows when they should do it,” said Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s chief refereeing officer.

Rosetti said UEFA had drawn on almost eight years of experience with VAR, as well as a wide range of cases and more than 100 clear video clips, to produce the guidance.

“We relied on our experience of nearly eight years, on the different VAR situations and on more than 100 clear clips, and we created Clear Line. It is a document in which we explain when and how the video assistant referee should intervene, and it has been prepared so that everyone can have a clear line. It is not only for referees, but for football. It is for players, coaches, fans and journalists as well,” he said.

The initiative is intended to make the basis for VAR more organised and easier to understand. Rosetti believes it was necessary to establish a system capable of setting out the technology’s principles in a structured way.

Velasco Carballo, another UEFA official involved in the project, said Clear Line had not been created solely for referees or referee organisations.

“This is not a website for referees, nor is it a website designed for referee organisations,” he said.

“It is a website created to explain our basic principles to anyone. It is the place we would like people to consult after a Champions League match, to compare incidents with the clips available in the library.”

Carballo said the platform was designed to be accessible to the wider football community, including clubs, players and supporters.

“It is a website for clubs, players and fans. In some of the texts, you may find expressions that are perhaps very informal, rather than refereeing terminology, but we did that deliberately,” he added.

UEFA will apply the Clear Line guidance strictly from the 2026-27 season. The objective is for VAR to become less interventionist while improving the accuracy of the decisions it does influence.

Under the approach outlined by UEFA, video officials should focus more closely on clear and obvious errors rather than reviewing marginal or minor incidents. The platform is therefore intended to provide a common reference point for those involved in football, helping them understand the circumstances in which a VAR intervention is expected and the situations in which the original on-field decision should stand.