VAR to be introduced in Scottish Premiership next weekend with Hibernian against St Johnstone first match it will be used on Friday, October 21. First game in Dingwall it will be used is Ross County v Hearts on Sunday, October 30
Scottish FA have confirmed video assistant referees (VAR) will be introduced to the Scottish Premiership next weekend.
It has been confirmed the Cinch Premiership will be introducing the technology in all 12 top flight stadium ahead of schedule.
The first match the technology will be used in Scotland will be Hibernian against St Johnstone at Easter Road on Friday, October 21.
The first match that the technology will be used at the Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall will be Ross County against Hearts on Sunday, October 30.
After nearly three years of planning, development and testing, FIFA have given Scottish football the green light to introduce Video Assistant Referees.
As well as all cinch Premiership matches, VAR will also be used for all Scottish Cup and Premier
Sports Cup semi-final and final matches played at Hampden Park.
VAR will be coordinated centrally from the video operations room at Clydesdale House and will be operated in line with the FIFA Laws of the Game using Hawk-Eye technology and with SPFL production partner QTV providing the central facility.
Production on all cinch Premiership matches will also increase to a minimum of six cameras bringing greater quality and depth to coverage of the league.
Video Assistant Referees at Clydesdale House will assist on-field referees in the event of a clear and
obvious error or a serious missed incident in relation to straight red cards, penalty area incidents, goals and mistaken identity.
Scottish FA Head of Referee Operations Crawford Allan said: “We are delighted to have received
approval to introduce VAR in Scottish football. We have worked extensively over a near three-year
period to get to this point, have tested in every cinch Premiership stadium as part of the training
process, and we are ready to go.
“As we have seen across the world, VAR has helped ensure a higher percentage of on-field
refereeing decisions are accurate and that is a principle our match officials support.
“I am grateful to the match officials who have given up their time to take part in the training
programme and I would like to thank our VAR working group and our key partners at the SPFL, and in particular its COO Calum Beattie, for his help throughout the development phase, as well as the
cinch Premiership clubs who have all been supportive and engaged in the process.
“Hawk-Eye and QTV also deserve praise for their technological expertise in creating a world-class
VAR centre here at Clydesdale House.”
SPFL Chief Operating Officer Calum Beattie said: “When 41 out of 42 clubs voted at our General Meeting
in April to introduce VAR into the cinch Premiership, we said that the technology would be
introduced after the World Cup. Our clubs made clear that they wished for VAR to be introduced as
soon as possible and the Scottish FA deserve real credit for being able to make this announcement
ahead of schedule.
“VAR exists to increase the accuracy of refereeing decision-making and while the experience of other
leagues demonstrates that implementation will not be straightforward, we are all committed to
assisting the Scottish FA to help it bed in as quickly as possible over the next few months.
“Following the announcement of the biggest television deal in the history of Scottish football with
Sky Sports, this is yet another step forward for the game in Scotland.
“The cinch Premiership is currently 8th in the UEFA coefficient rankings thanks to the recent success
of our clubs in UEFA competitions and this development brings us into line with other comparable
European Leagues.
“We would like to thank our 12 cinch Premiership clubs for embracing the process – and the
significant financial commitment – and hope that everyone involved will show a degree of patience
and understanding in the initial phase.”