Opening ceremony of the 3rd VAR Referee training course

From June 8 to June 18 in Hanoi, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF Company), and the VFF Arbitration Committee will continue to implement the 3rd training course for VAR Referees.

  09/06/2023 16:27:30

After going through the theoretical training steps and 2 focused training sessions at the LAB (Laboratory), 18 Referees and Assistants participating in the VAR Referee training class will continue to enter an important long training course for 11 days (from June 8 to 18, 2023).

At the 3rd training course, the Referees will in turn undergo practical training on VAR vehicles with increasing difficulty levels, specifically: step 3a training for 2 days with two competing teams on the field to rehearse short simulation situations for 10 minutes ; step 3b training for 6 days with two teams playing on the field rehearsing 30 minute simulation scenarios; step 3c training for 3 days with two teams playing the full 90 minutes. At this training step, the coordination between the Referee, the VAR referee and the technician is performed on the VAR vehicle. The entire 3rd training process will be supervised and guided by a FIFA expert.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Duong Nghiep Khoi – VFF General Secretary emphasized that this training course is considered very important with higher-level tests, requiring the referees to concentrate maximum to acquire knowledge and apply it in practice sessions. If the referees pass the inspection and assessment of FIFA experts, the moment when VAR is allowed to apply in Vietnam will be determined soon.

Two VAR vehicles deployed by VPF with the support of Hoanh Son Group were completed and put into operation at this training session. In the near future, FIFA will also send information about the plan of 02 VAR cars to sponsor Vietnam. The VAR vehicles deployed by VPF with all equipment of the VAR system are imported under the supervision of quality and technical standards of FIFA. In parallel with the training and professional examination of the referee on the VAR vehicle, in this training session, the FIFA technical expert will also evaluate the technical and standard standards for the two VAR vehicles. The communication systems will also have to undergo testing and licensing from the competent authorities in the country before being approved for use.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Ngoc, General Director of VPF shared: “The VAR project has undergone a long period of preparation and implementation. Up to now, the technical preparations and facilities for the application of VAR have been completed by VPF and its partners. This third training course for referees is especially important, deciding when to deploy VAR in Vietnam. With careful preparation in terms of logistics, VPF Company hopes that 18 Referees attending this first VAR training course will pass FIFA’s inspection and evaluation steps to plan to apply VAR soon in national professional football tournaments in the near future”.