Regional Matches
These moments are impossible to erase from memory: the referee freezes, puts his finger to the earpiece, and the whole stadium seems to stop breathing. The video assistant referee, the same VAR, changed the rhythm of football, teaching the game to stop and start again when the stakes are at their maximum and nerves are at their limit. But how much did it change the course of matches in regional tournaments? Which matches are now forever in another history? Who did VAR help, and who lost, but no hard feelings? Let’s try to figure it out.
Introduction to VAR’s Regional Impact
Since its official launch in 2018, VAR has been gradually introduced to European, South American, African, and Asian tournaments. The changes have also affected not only high-profile UEFA matches. The system was implemented step by step, like in a strategy game where every little detail matters – almost like in the gambling “game of planes” (Arabic: برنامج مراهنات), where the entire result depends on one move. Gradually, VAR has evolved not just into an assistant to the referee, but a tool that alters not only individual episodes, but often the entire scenario of the match.
In the last three seasons alone, VAR has influenced the outcome of more than 110 regional matches. Numerous penalties were awarded, many goals were disallowed, and yellow and red cards were reviewed. The stands either exploded with delight or fell silent. The system itself became increasingly accurate. What does this mean for modern football? Let’s look at some specific examples.
Turning Points: VAR in Crucial Moments
Remember the 2022 African Champions League final between Al Ahly and Wydad. In the 34th minute, VAR disallows Wydad’s goal for offside – a situation like in a tense game, where one risky move can decide everything. Something like in the melbet apk Android app , where video replays intervene directly in the course of events and rewrite the script of the match. Then the referee’s decision left the balance, and everything was decided only at the end, when Al Ahly seized the initiative.
Another example: the semi-final of the 2023 Sudamericana Cup between Fortaleza and Corinthians. VAR awarded a penalty in injury time – and thus turned the outcome of the match around, sending Fortaleza to the final for the first time. This is not about cosmetic changes, but about real turning points. When everything is decided by a centimeter or a second, the video assistant can become the border between triumph and defeat.
Underdogs and Upsets: When VAR Changed the Game
Sometimes, VAR doesn’t just correct mistakes; it opens the door for a sensation that no one expected. This is where technology and fate intersect:
- Vietnam vs. UAE, 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers: a goal for the UAE team is disallowed in the 92nd minute due to handball — VAR noticed what everyone else missed. Vietnam advances from the group in first place.
- Al-Hilal vs. Al-Nasr, 2024 Saudi Arabian King’s Cup final: the dismissal of Al-Nasr’s main defender is disallowed after review — the team finishes the game with a full squad and snatches a 2-1 victory.
- Botafogo vs. Sao Paulo, 2022 Brasileirao: VAR disallows two Botafogo goals due to offside. São Paulo escapes with a draw and gets a ticket to the Sudamericana Cup.
- Zamalek vs Pyramids, Egypt 2023 title match: VAR-awarded penalty gives Zamalek the only goal and gold medals.
In moments like these, VAR doesn’t just change the course of a match – it creates headlines. These aren’t technical details, but real twists of fate: from salvation to disappointment, all before the eyes of millions – and all in slow motion.
Fairness Redefined on the Field
It feels like only yesterday that a ref had a two-second gut check to wave either red or yellow. Players grumbled, crowds raged, and the talking heads spun yarns in real time. Now the lenses decide. Every sketchy tackle or blurry offside gets replayed, slowed, and practically frozen. Once a third-tier coach begged for just one decent crew; today, a lone booth rewrites that prayer into a checklist. At the 2023 Gold Cup alone, VAR flipped 17 howlers in the knockouts. Accuracy jumped to 94.2 percent, and even the biggest skeptics finally quit rolling their eyes at it. Most clubs now call that sort of fix the justice they’ve chased forever.
Pros aren’t untouchable anymore when they bark at the men in black. One glance up at the giant monitor and they see their breath roaring back, which cools the fire pretty quickly. Complaints about yellow cards dipped 38 percent at the 2024 AFC Cup. That drop is practically magic; players learn self-preservation beats theatrics. Because the booth never blinks, arguments evaporate, and the match gets on with it. Pace stays sharp, tension climbs, and oddly enough, the lads start trusting the machine. Call it Big Brother if you want.
To many people, it’s the obvious watchful eye they all swore we had to build a decade ago.
Local Heroes, Global Rules
Video Assistant Referee technology has stretched across leagues and oceans, letting unnoticed players step into the spotlight even beside the usual superstars. You can spot the impact of VAR well beyond the biggest tournaments:
- Rewa FC (Fiji), OFC Champions League 2023: a penalty decided by VAR took them to their first-ever final, beating the more prestigious Auckland City.
- TP Mazembe (DR Congo), CAF Confederations Cup 2024: a controversial goal was only ruled valid after a six-minute review – this victory brought them the lead in the group.
- Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia), AFC Champions League 2022: VAR awarded a decisive penalty at the end against Kawasaki Frontale – a historic 1-0 victory.
- Motagua (Honduras), CONCACAF League 2023: After a VAR review, the red card was overturned, and the team played to the end with a full squad, snatching victory in extra time.
These are not the “golden” clubs from Europe, but their victories now carry the same weight. VAR has become an instrument of equality that does not protect only the greats but levels the playing field for everyone.
Tactical Shifts Sparked by VAR Decisions
Teams had to change on the fly. VAR affects not only individual episodes, it changes the entire logic of coaches’ work: how to take risks, when to increase pressure, who to substitute. This is how new tactical scenarios appear:
| Team | Competition | Change Triggered by VAR | Tactical Response | Outcome |
| Kashima Antlers | AFC CL 2023 | Goal disallowed for the opponent | Shifted to 4-2-3-1 for ball control | Maintained 1–0 lead |
| Tigres UANL | CONCACAF CL 2023 | Offside goal ruled out | Delayed substitutions to control tempo | Secured draw, advanced on away goals |
| Cerro Porteño | Copa Sudamericana 2024 | Red card confirmed via VAR | Reinforced midfield with 5-3-1 formation | Held off attack, drew 0–0 |
Each such decision is not just a goal on the scoreboard or its absence. This is a moment that changes the pattern of the entire match. Now, coaches specially prepare teams for “VAR situations”. Tactics are born and developed right in the process of the game.
Fans, Emotions, and the Eye in the Sky
What actually goes down in the stands while VAR is running its checks? The feeling in the crowd is raw-some people freeze, others pace, a few fling out half-hearted cheers that sound silly a second later. Everybody sits there half-waiting, half-wishing the next whistle lands in their favor. Take the 2023 African Cup: officials scrubbed eleven goals off the board thanks to video, so nobody was safe from both thrill and heartbreak. When the picture clears, the real drama resets, as if the earlier score never happened and a fresh argument is already brewing in the booths.
Little by little, fans adjusted. Banners now pop up demanding trust, and roll calls turn into verses about silicon and steel. By late 2024, a poll of Brazilian Serie A supporters showed that over 67 percent were willing to back the system, a noticeable change from the skeptics who had first stormed Twitter after each delay. The routine doesn’t dull the roar; it only stretches the emotion and pumps it back out in sharper bursts.
A New Chapter in the Spirit of the Game
Sporting headlines used to scream about wayward referees and looping highlights. Now, the buzz is all about giving each match a more explicit purpose. Fans no longer shoulder the sting of phantom free-kicks or half-hearted penalties. VAR steps in and strips away the guesswork, proving the game still breathes human contradiction while edging toward absolute fairness. Stretch it out another way, and the same message hits home: people in the stands, plus the millions glued to screens, want to see results that sit right, not wander off into doubt.
