Pierluigi Collina, chief of referees in FIFA, has talked about potential changes in the referee rules, including an expanded use of VAR, before World Cup 2026 next summer. In a press conference in Washington D.C. before the World Cup draw on Friday, Collina said that "it would be a pity if the result of a competition is decided not by what the players do on the field of play, but by an honest mistake made by the decision-maker".
To further reduce the number of errors, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) will discuss a series of rules in their annual business meeting in January 2026, and would be approved in March in Wales. One of the things he is aiming to implement is to use VAR for corners, when the referee incorrectly grants a team a corner when it should be possession for the other team.
"The main criteria is no delay. With corners, there is a physiological delay because when a corner is given, normally you wait until the two centre-backs come up. It normally takes 10-15 seconds to get the attackers ready". Collina explains that, in those seconds, there's enough time to proof that the decision to give the corner is wrong: "To me, i's difficult to understand if they have the possibility to see that, why we have to hide our heads under the sand and hope that nothing happens on the corner kick which is taken."<em>
Currently, VAR is only used in certain moments, like red cards (right or wrong), penalties or offsides, but future regulations would allow VAR to be used not only on incorrect corners, but also when a second yellow card has been incorrectly awarded. Do you agree with the expanded use of VAR in football?