Football rules chief: VAR only intended for 'clear and obvious' errors

The general secretary of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) insists that video assistant referee (VAR) technology should not be used for "forensic" decisions.

"Clear and obvious still remains - it's an important principle. There should not be a lot of time spent to find something marginal," Lukas Brud told the PA news agency, per the Evening Standard.

"If you spend multiple minutes trying to identify whether it is offside or not, then it's not clear and obvious and the original decision should stand."

The issue was brought into focus during the Premier League's festive fixture period, during which a series of close offside calls were made based on video review.

Norwich City, Sheffield United, Brighton, Wolves, and Crystal Palace all recently had goals overturned by VAR. In some cases, reviews displayed microscopic margins that drew criticism from players and pundits alike.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called VAR "a big mess," and Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder - who lost 2-0 at the Etihad after Lys Mousset's opener was denied by VAR - said "this is not a situation helping the game."

"In theory, 1 millimeter offside is offside," Brud said, "but if a decision is taken that a player is not offside and the VAR is trying to identify through looking at five, six, seven, 10, 12 cameras whether or not it was offside, then the original decision should stand."

Brud added that the IFAB will reissue guidance on best practices for VAR, most likely after the annual general meeting at the end of February.

"We will be communicating to all competitions that are using VAR some updates in the coming weeks," he said, "because we are observing some developments that are not particularly the way they should be."