VAR to come to Scottish Premiership this December after SPFL clubs vote to introduce the scheme
VAR is coming to Scottish Premiership football next season – after Scottish clubs voted in favour of its introduction.
Video assistant referee technology is already used in most of the major leagues across Europe and beyond.
And now it will be rolled out in the top flight too after the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which runs until December 18.
But for the time being it is only being introduced in the top flight.
In order for the motion to be carried, 75% of Premiership clubs, 75% of Championship clubs and 75% of clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 were required to vote in favour of the resolution.
And it was carried unanimously in the Premiership, League 1 and League 2 – with ONE Championship club voting against the scheme.
The top-placed finisher in the league will have to stump up 16.29% of the funding for the new system – right down to 5.63% for the 12th placed finisher.
That equates to £195,000 for the league winner – and £67,000 for 12th place.
The SPFL will use the Hawkeye Innovations System, which is already in use at many leagues worldwide, including the English Premier League.
Work will begin soon to install the technology at every Premiership ground over the coming months.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “I’m very pleased that we received the necessary 75% votes in the cinch Premiership, the cinch Championship, and cinch Leagues 1 and 2, which enable us to forge ahead with VAR technology next season.
“The SPFL chose not to be an early adopter of VAR technology to allow time for teething issues to be ironed out by those leagues who adopted VAR early.
“I believe this was the right decision and that VAR will help referees to ensure tight decisions are more often the right ones and will support a higher standard and more consistent level of decision-making.
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“Scottish referees are fully on-board with this innovation and have been overwhelmingly supportive about the introduction of VAR during our consultation process with our partners at the Scottish FA.”
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “Throughout the consultation process we were encouraged that the principle of VAR was supported by clubs, players, coaches and match officials.
“The benefits of VAR are clear and with the commitment of the Scottish FA, SPFL and now the approval of the league’s 42 member clubs, we can now look forward to continuing the implementation process with a view to VAR being a key part of Scottish football’s future.”
Meanwhile the Lowland League have opened the application process for any ‘guest clubs’.
We told you how Rangers and Celtic B were set to compete in the competition for a second successive year.
Bonnyrigg Rose beat both sets of Old Firm youths to the league title, although stars such as Rangers’ Alex Lowry and the likes of Owen Moffat of Celtic made an impact.
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