A REFEREE in Morocco made history as he explained a VAR decision to fans inside the stadium for the first time ever.
Video Assistant Referees have had a growing and controversial presence in football over the last few years.
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Fifa chiefs are attempting to tackle criticism that the system lacks transparency and leaves fans inside the ground in the dark.
The Club World Cup is hosting a trial where refs have to explain their decisions over a loudspeaker in the stadium.
A game between Oceania champions Auckland City and Egyptian side Al-Ahly’s has gone down in history as the first where the system has been used.
Chinese referee Ma Ning incorrectly awarded a penalty to Al-Ahly after Taher Mohamed was taken down by Adam Mitchell deep in stoppage time.
After consulting the pitch side monitor, Ning realised that the tackle had happened on the edge of the box rather than inside the penalty area.
The mic’d up official returned to the pitch and his voice boomed over the speaker system to the 47,000 supporters inside the ground.
Ning said: “Decision will be a free kick. Auckland No.3 – denial of a goalscoring opportunity.”
He then gave Mitchell a red card. The sending off did not effect the overall outcome of the game with goals from Hussein El Shahat, Mohamed Sherif and Percy Tau sending Al-Ahly through to the second round.
Fans can expect to see more of the voice system with the technology set to be trailed throughout the Club World Cup, including when Champions League winners Real Madrid enter the tournament.
If the trial is deemed a success, the men’s Under-20 World Cup and the women’s World Cup will also see the system used.
It could then arrive in major European competitions like the Premier League.
