{
  "id": "var-misconceptions",
  "type": "faq",
  "name": "Common VAR misconceptions",
  "summary": "Answers to what fans get wrong about VAR, checked against the 2026/27 IFAB protocol: VAR cannot review everything, cannot decide, cannot be demanded by teams, does not re-referee soft calls, and never handles second yellow cards.",
  "locale": "en",
  "tags": [
    "faq",
    "var",
    "refereeing",
    "laws-of-the-game"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "rel": "answers_about",
      "target": "var"
    },
    {
      "rel": "governed_by",
      "target": "law-05-referee"
    }
  ],
  "questions": [
    "Why did VAR not intervene in that foul?",
    "Can players ask for a VAR review?",
    "Does VAR make the decision?",
    "Can VAR review a second yellow card?",
    "Does VAR check every referee mistake?"
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "c1",
      "text": "The VAR may only intervene for a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident within the reviewable categories (goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, direct red card, mistaken identity, plus the competition-option corner correction); other decisions, however wrong, are outside its scope.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c2",
      "text": "Only the referee can initiate a review; there is no mechanism for teams or players to request one.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c3",
      "text": "The VAR recommends; the referee always takes the final decision, after an on-field review for subjective judgements or on the VAR's description of the footage for factual ones.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    },
    {
      "id": "c4",
      "text": "Until the 2025/26 edition second cautions were excluded from VAR review; from 2026/27 a clearly incorrect second caution resulting in a red card is reviewable.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-changes-2026-27",
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.9
    },
    {
      "id": "c5",
      "text": "The referee must always make an initial decision on the field — the VAR process does not permit withholding a decision to wait for the review.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    }
  ],
  "takeaways": [],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "q": "Why did VAR not intervene in that foul?",
      "claim": "c1"
    },
    {
      "q": "Can players ask for a VAR review?",
      "claim": "c2"
    },
    {
      "q": "Does VAR make the decision?",
      "claim": "c3"
    },
    {
      "q": "Can VAR review a second yellow card?",
      "claim": "c4"
    },
    {
      "q": "Can the referee wait for VAR instead of deciding?",
      "claim": "c5"
    }
  ],
  "evidence_tier": "primary",
  "evidence": {
    "level": "industry_observation",
    "source_types": [
      "industry_observation"
    ]
  },
  "moat_flag": false,
  "winning_edge": "Each answer states the protocol boundary that broadcast discussion blurs, bound to the 2026/27 VAR protocol text including the current category list.",
  "confidence": 0.94,
  "last_verified": "2026-08-08",
  "body": "# Common VAR misconceptions\n\n**\"VAR should have checked that foul.\"** VAR only exists for four\nmatch-changing categories — goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards\nand mistaken identity (plus, where the competition enables it, an\nimmediate correction of a clearly wrong corner). A midfield foul that\nleads to nothing is not reviewable, however wrong.\n\n**\"The players asked for a review, so it happened.\"** There is no team\nreview request in the protocol. Only the referee can initiate a review;\nthe VAR can only recommend one. The TV-screen gesture from players\nchanges nothing (and risks a caution for it).\n\n**\"VAR overruled the referee.\"** The VAR cannot overrule anyone. For\nsubjective calls the referee reviews the footage at the screen; for\nfactual ones the VAR describes what the footage shows. Either way the\nfinal decision belongs to the referee.\n\n**\"VAR can never touch a second yellow.\"** That was true until the\n2025/26 edition. From 2026/27, a clearly incorrect second caution that\nproduces a red card is reviewable — one of the quietest but most\nconsequential changes of this edition.\n\n**\"The referee waited for VAR instead of deciding.\"** Not allowed. The\nprotocol requires an initial on-field decision in every situation; \"no\ndecision\" is prohibited. The review can then confirm or correct it.",
  "canonical_url": "https://futbolatlas.app/k/var-misconceptions",
  "api_url": "https://futbolatlas.app/api/k/var-misconceptions.json",
  "jsonld": {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "name": "Common VAR misconceptions",
    "description": "Answers to what fans get wrong about VAR, checked against the 2026/27 IFAB protocol: VAR cannot review everything, cannot decide, cannot be demanded by teams, does not re-referee soft calls, and never handles second yellow cards.",
    "url": "https://futbolatlas.app/k/var-misconceptions",
    "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html",
    "dateModified": "2026-08-08",
    "citation": [
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Law changes 2026/27 — changes and clarifications (IFAB)",
        "url": "https://www.theifab.com/law-changes/latest/"
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    "mainEntity": [
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Why did VAR not intervene in that foul?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "The VAR may only intervene for a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident within the reviewable categories (goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, direct red card, mistaken identity, plus the competition-option corner correction); other decisions, however wrong, are outside its scope."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Can players ask for a VAR review?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Only the referee can initiate a review; there is no mechanism for teams or players to request one."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Does VAR make the decision?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "The VAR recommends; the referee always takes the final decision, after an on-field review for subjective judgements or on the VAR's description of the footage for factual ones."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Can VAR review a second yellow card?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Until the 2025/26 edition second cautions were excluded from VAR review; from 2026/27 a clearly incorrect second caution resulting in a red card is reviewable."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Can the referee wait for VAR instead of deciding?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "The referee must always make an initial decision on the field — the VAR process does not permit withholding a decision to wait for the review."
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}