Serie A was one of the first leagues to introduce VAR and they are now tweaking the protocol, reportedly preparing a system where coaches can challenge decisions.
Video Assistant Referee technology was introduced to Serie A and the German Bundesliga in the 2017-18 season, a year before La Liga, and Italy had the world’s first VAR training centre opened in January 2018.
They were always at the forefront of this approach and are now planning further developments of the often controversial protocol.
According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the Lega Serie A has been discussing the use of a ‘challenge’ that coaches can request from the touchline to force the referee into an on-field review.
This would be a similar protocol to the one used in tennis and also volleyball.
In theory, the Video Assistant Referee should call the referee to perform an on-field review if there is a clear and obvious error, but the challenge would allow coaches to over-ride it if the VAR decided that was not necessary to see something again.
There will already be changes when Serie A resumes on January 4, as the league will use semi-automatic offside checks, which were adopted at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This is meant to speed up the process of confirming offside situations.