Review Area

The review area allows the referee to look at replays of match incidents at pitchside in addition to communicating with the video assistant at the Video Assist Centre (VAC) in Cologne. A monitor shows the referee exactly the same camera angle used by the video assistant in making its judgement. If a check is performed during a match, prompting the referee to go over to the pitchside review area, TV viewers are shown a “3-way split”. This allows them to see the respective incidents “through the referee’s eyes”, figuratively speaking. In a big window on the left-hand side, the picture selection of the “3-way split” shows the sequences that the video assistant gives the referee to perform the check. In a small window top-right in the “3-way split”, the referee is shown at the monitor in the review area, while the window bottom-right focuses on the corresponding video assist team. This new integration concept in the base signal of the television broadcasts makes the referee’s decision-making more transparent.