Egypt will start using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology at its stadiums in the last round of the domestic league this week, the Egyptian Football Association's (EFA) refereeing chief said on Tuesday. According to local media, Essam Abdel-Fattah, a former World Cup referee, said the EFA had been given the green light to test the new technology by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, which broadcasts all football games in the country. "Everything is in place now to use the VAR. The test will begin in Wednesday's Egyptian Premier League matches," Abdel-Fattah told Egyptian football website FilGoal.com. "If the trial is successful, it will also be implemented in the Egypt Cup matches." VAR uses two video assistant referees who monitor the action on screens and call the match referee's attention to mistakes or omissions. It has been used in several FIFA tournaments, including last year's Club World Cup and the Confederations Cup, which was won by Germany on Sunday following a 1-0 victory over Chile in a match that saw the referee controversially fail to dismiss Chile's Gonzalo Jara for an elbow on Timo Werner despite watching a video replay. It is not clear yet whether the EFA will install more cameras to help the video assistant referee, given its limited resources. Egyptian referees regularly come under fire for what many clubs deem their poor judgment. There have been a number of controversial refereeing decisions this season, including Gehad Greisha's failure to spot a clear handball during a league game between Zamalek and Maqassa in March. With Maqassa leading 1-0, Zamalek were denied a clear penalty when defender Ahmed Sami cleared a cross with a flailing arm. Amid furious post-match protests from Zamalek, Greisha acknowledged he had made a mistake after watching a video replay at home. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
