When Should VAR Intervene? UEFA's Clear Line Explained
UEFA has opened its referee training library to the public. More than 150 scenarios reveal where football draws the line between play on and VAR intervention.
Explore the guide →Find your answer
Start with the decision that puzzled you.
What is VAR?
The essential guide to video refereeing: why it exists, how it works and what it cannot do.
Start reading →What can VAR review?
Goals, penalties, red cards and the current protocol's important exceptions.
Explore review rules →Offside explained
Position, timing, active involvement and how video technology helps.
Understand offside →The handball rule
Why accidental contact is not always an offence and when a penalty is possible.
Understand handball →How reviews work
VAR checks, on-field reviews and why the referee makes the final call.
See the process →The VAR debate
Accuracy, consistency, delays and the concerns supporters keep raising.
Explore the debate →Clear and obvious error
Why video evidence does not automatically overturn every disputed decision.
Learn the threshold →Second yellow cards
What changed in 2026/27, and why missed cautions remain different.
Read the rule →Offside technology
How modern tracking systems help referees make close decisions.
Explore the technology →Further reading
The rules behind the headlines.
More to explore
One permanent question
Should football keep VAR?
The only vote on VarVote is our ongoing yes-or-no question about VAR itself. Participation is voluntary and is not a representative survey.