What can VAR review in football?
The Video Assistant Referee can only intervene in four categories of decision, and only when there has been a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident.
The four are:
Goals — and any part of the phase of play leading to them: offside, a foul in the build-up, the ball out of play, handball.
Penalty decisions — awarded or not awarded.
Direct red cards — not second yellows. A wrongly issued second yellow cannot be reviewed, which is a frequent source of confusion.
Mistaken identity — when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player.
Everything else is outside VAR's scope. Throw-ins, corners, ordinary fouls, first yellow cards and offside decisions that do not lead to a goal cannot be reviewed, however wrong they may be.
The threshold matters as much as the categories. VAR is not meant to re-referee the match; it exists to correct clear errors. Where a decision is subjective and defensible, the on-field decision should stand — which is why some reviews end with no change and viewers assume the system has failed.
Offside is the exception to the subjectivity principle, because it is a factual question with a line drawn to the centimetre. That precision is exactly why offside VAR decisions attract the most complaint: a marginal call that no human could see becomes decisive.
The referee retains final authority. VAR recommends; the referee may review footage pitchside before deciding.
Semi-automated offside technology now speeds up the factual calls at major tournaments, using limb tracking rather than manually drawn lines.