SOCHI, Russia — Football World Cup team coaches gathered on Tuesday in Russia ahead of a crunch decision on whether to introduce the VAR video replay system at this summer's tournament.
The last meeting of the 32 participating nations before the June 14-July 15 global extravaganza comes with debate still raging about the controversial Video Assistant Referee technology.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday that European football's governing body would not use it in next season's Champions League because "nobody knows exactly how it works yet".
But global body FIFA has been pushing hard for VAR use in game-changing situations such as goals and penalty decision.
"I used to be skeptical about VAR but statistics now show 99 percent perfection," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said earlier this month.
The ruling on whether to use VAR for the first time at a World Cup will be issued on Saturday in Zurich by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
This means the two-day gathering in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi will leave teams none the wiser about how exactly the World Cup will be refereed.
Several of the big European leagues have started using VAR, to mixed reviews. Controversies have dogged calls made in England and Italy.
The Sochi gathering is meant to give coaches a rundown about how the World Cup will be organized in Russia.
It represents a logistical challenge for both the hosts and teams because of the great distances they will have to travel between the 11 host cities.
Another worry is that some of the stadiums have still not been completed. "We don't want surprises," Iran's Portugese coach Carlos Queiroz told AFP before the start of the meeting. "We don't like surprises."
On Monday, UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Atalanta on Monday over monkey chants directed at Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi.
Belgian international forward Batshuayi accused some Atalanta fans of targeting him with racist abuse during Dortmund's Europa League clash against the Italians last week.
UEFA said its Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body would deal with the case on March 22. Both Atalanta and Dortmund have also been charged by UEFA over their fans' setting off fireworks and throwing objects onto the pitch.
Meanwhile, 24 qualifiers for Euro 2020 will share record total prize money of 371 million euros ($456m, £327m), a considerable increase from the last European Championship, UEFA said at their Congress in Bratislava on Monday.
The total amount is 23 percent up from Euro 2016 in France, which was the first time 24 countries made up the competition. Each competing nation will receive 9.25 million euros simply for taking part, plus a further 1.5 million euros per win in the group phase and 750,000 euros for a draw.
There will be further prize money for reaching each round in the knockout phase, meaning the winner will pocket 20.25 million euros on top of earnings from the group stage. The winner will therefore take away a maximum of 34 million euros, compared to 27 million euros in 2016. — AFP
