UEFA Confirm VAR to Be Used in Europa League 2020 Knockout Stages

UEFA confirmed on Monday that the video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used for the first time on Thursday in the knockout stages of the 2020 Europa League:

"Video assistant referees (VAR) will be deployed in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase, which kicks off on 20 February. The decision was taken by the UEFA Executive Committee last September, following the introduction of the system in several UEFA competitions in the 2018/19 campaign." 

The technology was introduced to the Champions League last season and the Premier League for the first time at the start of the 2019-20 season but was not used in the group stages of the Europa League.

UEFA offered some detail on how the technology will work:

Roberto Rosetti, UEFA's Referees Committee chairman, said VAR has been a success in Europe's top competition and highlighted the impact it has had.

"We're very happy with the figures that we've seen in the UEFA Champions League group phase and playoffs – in 108 matches in total, 27 decisions have been corrected through the VAR system, which means that a decision has only been overturned every four matches - this shows the quality of the referees' performances. In addition, we feel that the time taken to overturn a decision is important. So far this season, the average time for the correction of a decision has been 1 minute 30 seconds – 15 seconds less than last season."

VAR has come in for plenty of criticism across Europe for the time taken to make decisions and a perceived lack of consistency.

The ruling concerning offsides has prompted much debate and led to the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to ask VAR officials not to be "too forensic," per BBC Sport.

The handball law has also come under scrutiny with VAR, as highlighted by ESPN FC's Dale Johnson:

The Europa League is the second tier of European club competition but does offer the winners automatic qualification to next season's Champions League group stage.

The draw for the last 32 includes some big names including Premier League teams Manchester United, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Serie A rivals Inter Milan and Roma as well as last season's Champions League semi-finalists Ajax:

UEFA also announced VAR will be used in the European qualifiers play-offs in March, Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup European qualifiers, subject to final approval. The technology will be also used at the Women’s Champions League final and at Women's Euro 2021.