The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tested the lower-cost video assistant referee (VAR Light) concept at the AFC Women’s Club Championship 2021 Pilot Tournament (West) in Jordan from 7 to 13 November.

As part of its efforts to adopt more technological advances in the sport, the AFC examined the new concept, which is aimed at creating more affordable VAR systems that could enable competitions with more limited budgets to use VAR technology.

The VAR Light trials focus on exploring and evaluating the various cost-effective technological solutions available, while also assessing the impact they will have on football matches as compared to the conventional VAR system.

The AFC Women’s Club Championship 2021 Pilot Tournament (West) is the first competition in Asia to have played host to trials of the VAR Light concept. The AFC, which is part of the FIFA Working Group for Innovation Excellence, will report on its findings in due course.

Four clubs – host side Amman Club, FC Bunyodkor from Uzbekistan, IR Iran’s Shahrdari Sirjan and Sree Gokulam Kerala FC from India – competed in this year’s edition of the pilot tournament, which was the latest dress rehearsal ahead of the launch of the AFC Women’s Champions League in the near future. Photo courtesy of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)