AFC to implement VAR in all club competitions for 2024-25 season

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Tuesday said that it will implement a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system across its revamped three-tier club structure as well as the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League for the 2024-25 season.

The VAR will be implemented from the league stage of the newly introduced AFC Champions League Elite, kicking off in September. The tournament will see the Continent’s top 24 teams battle for glory.

However, in the inaugural edition of the landmark AFC Women’s Champions League, VAR will only be used in the semifinals and final.

Meanwhile, VAR support for match officials in the AFC Champions League Two will be available from the knockout stage onwards. The competition, comprising 32 teams, is set to commence in September.

For the AFC Challenge League, which will feature 20 teams, the technology will come into play in the all-important final in May 2025.

To facilitate the process, the AFC had conducted the AFC Video Assistant Referees (VAR) Course in 2023.

Moreover, an AFC VAR Information Officer (VIO) Workshop is also slated to take place in the upcoming months to ensure the VIOs from the various AFC Member Associations are kept abreast of the latest developments in VAR technology.

Earlier this year, the AFC implemented the VAR system across all matches at the AFC Asian Cup for the first time, while also becoming the first Confederation to introduce the Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) system at the continental men’s national team level, further emphasising its ambitions to remain a model Confederation and ensuring the success of its match officials on the biggest stages in world football.