World Cup 2025: FIFA wants to adopt a new rule for the use of VAR

FIFA wants corner kicks to be reviewed by the VAR to avoid controversial goals being awarded at the 2026 World Cup.

FIFA want to adopt technology for corner kick decisions at the 2026 World Cup. The governing body sent a proposal for the adoption of VAR in incorrect corner kick decisions to a technical panel of football lawmakers last month, and is awaiting a response, according to English newspaper The Telegraph.

Following FIFA's initial request, there were divergent opinions amongst the body's members, made up of former players, managers and referees.

According to the initial decision, using VAR to analyse corner kicks would violate one of the fundamental principles of Law 5, which states that the referee cannot change a restart decision after realising it is incorrect once play has restarted.

Now, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that draws up football's laws, continues to analyse the possibility and is considering granting special exceptions for VAR use for these purposes in short tournaments, such as the World Cup, for example.

FIFA's idea aims to avoid embarrassing errors

FIFA's idea is that these additional tools would avoid embarrassing errors in a world-level tournament, especially in the World Cup final.

Besides using VAR to analyse corner kick decisions, there is also the chance that video referee intervention would also occur after the application of a second yellow card. All these possibilities continue to be discussed, although the second, involving cards, is more difficult to accept, as it involves a subjective decision.

Previously, there was an even more radical suggestion - that would be to change the penalty law. The ball would be declared 'dead' if the goalkeeper saved the spot kick, however, it ended up being discarded.

Negotiations between FIFA and the other responsible bodies continue behind the scenes, particularly this week, when the governing body will be in Washington, the US capital, for the World Cup group draw.

Concessions would cause confusion in Premier League

Should IFAB authorise FIFA to use the technology for corner kicks at the World Cup, this could cause confusion in the Premier League. This is because clubs in the English tournament had already been complaining and requesting authorisation for VAR to be used in these situations.

Recently, Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche lamented the lack of review after goals conceded due to incorrectly awarded corner kicks.

"Two (goals scored after incorrect corner kicks) in two weeks is a farce. There has to be someone who overrules that decision, because the ball has gone and gone straight into the goal," the manager said after a goal scored by Manchester United's Casemiro.

This was the second consecutive week that Nottingham Forest conceded a goal from an incorrectly awarded corner kick.

However, it is known that IFAB members are not very much in favour of expanding VAR's powers for club football. Even before Dyche's complaints, members had shown little enthusiasm for the idea.

Should FIFA obtain clearance, it could cause a problem between clubs and the body that looks after football's laws, with the understanding that FIFA always get what they want.

In July, the Football Association's (FA) chief executive Mark Bullingham had declared himself opposed to any expansion of VAR's powers.

This article was originally published on Trivela.