Research draft

video assistant referee

vr.tr.video-assistant-referee · SOC.PER

Enable an AI agent to recognise a video assistant referee's match appointment, assess their ability and authority to assist, and identify permissible next actions without assuming the referee's decision-making authority.

Thing Registry Society, people and institutions

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

Researched by: Codex + Grok

Purpose and description

A video assistant referee is a specialist match official in association football who, from a video operation room and under the International Football Association Board (IFAB) protocol, uses live camera feeds to check the referee's decisions and may intervene only for a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident involving a goal, a penalty, a direct red card, or mistaken identity.

It can be Verify a recorded VAR appointment against qualification evidence and the applicable competition rules.; Assess whether an incident falls within the assigned VAR's remit and whether intervention remains permissible.; Assemble referenced replay observations and unresolved ambiguities for the authorised official's assessment.; Track checks, recommendations, acknowledgements and the referee's resulting decision as distinct events.; Identify degraded capability or unassigned live monitoring and propose an authorised handover or fallback.; Reconstruct a VAR intervention for assessment using the evidence available at the time..

Distinguishing features

The referent is an appointed human match official using video evidence, rather than equipment marketed as a VAR system.

The appointment identifies the person as VAR, rather than assistant VAR or replay operator.

The role includes independent access to match footage for officiating, distinguishing it from a commentator or television analyst.

The official assists through protocol-bounded information and recommendations; the referee retains the final decision. See the [IFAB VAR protocol](https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/video-assistant-referee-var-protocol/).

The person's authority is tied to a match appointment, distinguishing an active VAR from someone who merely holds relevant qualifications.

Scope

+ The official's appointment as VAR for a particular match and period of responsibility.

+ Applicable protocol edition, competition options and limits on intervention.

+ The official's access to replay evidence and ability to communicate with match officials.

+ Incident checks, evidence assessments and recommendations attributable to the VAR.

+ Work allocation, loss of capability, replacement and handover within the video officiating team.

- The VAR technology system's hardware, software architecture and maintenance.

- The on-field referee's general match management and authoritative decisions.

- The full football match, including its event timeline and result.

- Standalone models of assistant VARs, replay operators and other match officials.

- The official's general biography, employment and unrelated appointments.

- Broadcast production, audience commentary and automated tracking system design.

Characteristics

Match appointment: Person, match, appointing body, role and effective interval Establishes whose actions count as this VAR's actions.
Appointment standing: Proposed, confirmed, active, replaced, completed, withdrawn or unknown Separates eligibility to serve from current responsibility.
Qualification evidence: Credential or approval record, issuing authority, applicability and validity interval Supports assessment of eligibility for appointment or replacement.
Governing protocol: Law edition, competition rules, adopted options and applicable trial authorisations Prevents intervention rules from being assumed universal across seasons and competitions.
Operational capability: Ready, degraded, unavailable or unverified, with affected capability and observation time Determines whether the official can perform the required checks and communicate findings.
Incident eligibility: Applicable protocol category, outside remit or unresolved, with rule reference Prevents a visible incident from being treated as automatically reviewable.
Incident work state: Queued, checking, check complete, review recommended, assisting review, closed or interrupted Identifies the next required action without confusing a check with a referee-initiated review.
Evidence sufficiency: Sufficient for stated proposition, inconclusive, contradictory or unavailable Separates what footage supports from the official's interpretation.
Communication acknowledgement: Not required, pending, acknowledged, failed or unknown Prevents a recommendation from being treated as received solely because it was sent.
Check and review timing: Seconds, with separately identified start and end events Supports reconstruction of delays and workload without inventing a universal deadline.

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 7 bundles · 13 layers · 20 findings · 32 questions.

VAR appointment and remit The person's authority to act as VAR in the particular match.

Recognition requires a specific officiating appointment, not merely a person associated with video review.

Appointed role

Connects the person to a match-specific period of VAR responsibility.

Appointment evidence

Record the appointment's origin, role designation and effective interval.

Which appointment record identifies this person as the VAR for this match? provenance
When did this person assume and relinquish VAR responsibility, including any replacement? boundary

Applicable authority

Establishes the rules and permissions governing this appointment.

Protocol and eligibility

Record the applicable rule edition, local options and evidence of eligibility to serve.

Which law edition, competition options and authorised trials govern this match's VAR interventions? provenance
What evidence establishes that this person is eligible to serve as VAR under those requirements? provenance

Incident intervention boundaries How a potential incident enters or falls outside the VAR's remit.

A model must distinguish an observable possible error from an incident on which this VAR may act.

Incident classification

Relates the incident and original decision to a permitted intervention category.

Reviewability basis

Record the proposed category, original decision and grounds for possible intervention.

Which applicable review category covers this incident, or why is it outside the VAR's remit? boundary
What was the original on-field decision or missed incident, and what possible error is being assessed? definition

Reviewable play window

Identifies the sequence of play and restart status relevant to intervention.

Temporal permission

Record the justified start and end of the examined sequence and any change in permission after a restart.

Where does the relevant attacking phase or incident sequence begin and end, and what supports those boundaries? boundary
Has play restarted, and which applicable rule permits or prevents further intervention now? action

Replay evidence assessment What the VAR could inspect and what the inspected material supports.

Assessment must distinguish camera limitations, factual observations and interpretive judgement.

Available and inspected footage

Connects observations to the particular replay material available to the official.

Replay observation trace

Record inspected angles, sequences, playback conditions and missing views.

Which camera feeds, clip intervals and playback speeds did the VAR actually inspect? provenance
Which occlusions, missing frames, timing ambiguities or unavailable views limit the assessment? measurement

Evidence to assessment

Separates observable propositions from the judgement needed to apply the intervention threshold.

Supported propositions

Record the factual and interpretive basis of the VAR's assessment, including unresolved alternatives.

Which propositions concern observable position, identity or contact, and which require interpretation of the action? definition
What evidence supports or fails to support the applicable intervention threshold, and what remains ambiguous? boundary

Check, review and referee exchange The progression from checking an incident to assisting a referee's review.

The model must preserve the distinction between the VAR's assessment, their recommendation and the referee's decision.

Check disposition

Records how a check is completed, escalated or interrupted.

Check outcome

Record the check state and the reason for communicating, closing or continuing it.

Is this incident still being checked, completed without a recommendation, recommended for review or interrupted? definition
What assessment justifies the next communication or closure, and is a restart-related message needed? action

Referee review support

Records information exchanged and the resulting review pathway.

Recommendation and response

Keep the VAR's message, the referee's acknowledgement and the eventual decision separately attributable.

What did the VAR communicate, when was it acknowledged, and did the referee initiate a review? provenance
What replay assistance or additional information was requested, and what final decision did the referee communicate? action

Video team operational continuity The VAR's ability to maintain incident coverage with the available team and equipment.

A valid appointment does not establish that replay access, communication and concurrent match monitoring remain functional.

Officiating capability

Assesses the capabilities the VAR needs at the present moment.

Replay and communication readiness

Record verified replay access, communication status and the effect of any degradation.

Can the VAR currently inspect the required feeds and exchange intelligible messages with the referee? measurement
Which checks are affected by a capability failure, and who must receive notice under the match procedure? action

Coverage and handover

Tracks responsibility for live monitoring and unfinished incident work.

Continuous incident ownership

Record team coverage during intensive replay work and any transfer of the VAR role.

Who is monitoring continuing play while the VAR concentrates on an earlier incident? action
If the VAR cannot continue, what authorised replacement or fallback applies and which pending checks require handover? action

Intervention accountability An attributable record of VAR work suitable for subsequent assessment.

A changed decision alone cannot establish whether the VAR's evidence handling and intervention were appropriate.

Contemporaneous record

Preserves what was known and communicated at each stage.

Assessment reconstruction

Connect the incident, inspected evidence, assessment and communication timeline without substituting later knowledge.

Which records establish what evidence the VAR had when the recommendation was made? provenance
What were the check, recommendation and review intervals, and how were their timestamps aligned? measurement

Subsequent assessment

Keeps later evaluations distinct from match-time judgements.

Assessment basis and disagreement

Record authorised evaluations, their criteria and unresolved disagreement about the VAR's conduct.

Who assessed the intervention, using which criteria and which evidence unavailable or available during the match? provenance
Does the assessment concern incident judgement, intervention eligibility, communication or evidence handling, and what remains disputed? definition

Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.

A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.