FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Fans and television audiences in Germany will get more information on video reviews and footage from body cameras worn by referees in the Bundesliga next season.
Stadium announcements will explain all video review decisions and more footage from bodycams will be made available, the German league said Wednesday.
Referees will broadcast all their video-reviewed decisions in top-tier Bundesliga stadiums from the Aug. 22 start of the season and games in the second tier from Oct. 17, the league said. Trials in some Bundesliga stadiums had started in January.
Trials with body cameras can now be extended worldwide to domestic competition organizers who apply, the FIFA-backed soccer rules panel known as IFAB said Wednesday in a separate news release.
Bodycam footage was previously restricted to FIFA events including the Club World Cup in the United States in recent weeks.
Fans were shown eye-level footage in the heart of the action gathered by small cameras attached to the headsets referees wear to communicate with their assistant match officials.
On video reviews, fans and broadcasters have long wanted more and faster information about why an in-play decision was made, upheld or overturned by the referee in the VAR system.
When VAR was introduced ahead of the men’s 2018 World Cup, fans in the stadium were not shown replays of incidents and referees did not have to explain the reasons for a decision, which was simply displayed on giant screens.
The Bundesliga said its referees will address the stadium after they consult a field-side monitor or change a decision on advice from a video review assistant.
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The Associated Press
