‘Simplified version’ of VAR that pops up as essential on the FIFA Under-20 World Cup

FIFA uses an alternative assessment system with which coaches can appeal against two decisions of the referee per match on the World Cup under the 20 football in Chile.

The football video support (FVS) is a «simplified version» of VAR and has transformed the youth tournament into a test site for new technologies.

Tickets that vary between blue and purple are held by coaches, who are responsible for applying for assessments.

During the group stage, its use has proven to be crucial, the course of various matches that are played in the cities of Santiago, Valparaíso, Rancagua and Talca. The system was used in more than a dozen competitions at the start of the tournament.

FVS was used for the first time when the South Korea coach Lee Chang-Won used a map for the first time during the opening match against Ukraine. He challenged a fine, but the request was eventually excluded by the referee.

Since then, the assessment system has played a role in various competitions. Of the 12 games in the first round of the group stage, the «Light VAR» was used in seven.

It turned out to be decisive in the 1-0 victory of Norway in Nigeria after an assessment of a handball by Nigeria defender Ahmed Akinyele, who had ignored the American referee Joe Dickerson.

FVS has also not allowed a goal in the 4-1 victory of Argentina against Australia-de Assessment denies a draw for the Socceroos.

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Mexico’s use of the system helped to destroy a criminal decision in a match, the binding 2-2 binding against Spain. It also led to Paraguay wing player Enso González red after kicking South Korea striker Hyeon-oh Kim.

How does FVs work?

In contrast to VAR, that special cameras and a supporting team of civil servants use, FVS referees revise their decisions based on images recorded by the television broadcast, without further help.

According to the reigning body of world football, the FVS system is intended to «Democratate football by introducing video assessment technology as a complementary option», not only for top-level competitions, but also for those who «could not pay VAR infrastructure», thanks to the low costs and simplified operation.

Coaches can only address four specific situations: whether there was a goal or not; Whether there was a fine or not, about a direct red card, or in the event of suspicion that a card was not shown to the correct perpetrator.

The system was already tested by FIFA in other competitions, such as the 2024 Youth Championship/Blue Stars in Switzerland and the 2025 World Cup among 20 ladies in Colombia, and it is expected to be expanded to other youth categories.

Lack of consensus

Some have praised the system, but others have expressed the reluctance.

«It is a good tool to prevent the game from being constantly stopped,» said Chile coach Nicolás Córdova after a 2-0 loss.

However, some fans have criticized the long waiting time until a decision has been made.

«In a game like this, we had 10 extra minutes because they stopped all the time to judge things that had clearly not happened,» said Brazilian fan Tiago Dias after his country had lost 2-1 to Morocco.

Some coaches, such as Mohamed Ouahbi from Morocco, said they would use the tool extensively, regardless of whether there was a violation or not.

«I’m going to use the card because the option is there. We have two cards and we have to use them,» said Ouahbi.

Published on October 07, 2025