Football could soon be heading the way of cricket and tennis by introducing a video review system for contentious refereeing decisions. That’s a possibility being pondered by FIFA, who have launched a pilot scheme for what is being labelled a ‘VAR card’ system.
In the trial, team managers are able to hold up a card when they want a referee’s decision to be reviewed. The official then analyses the footage on a pitchside monitor, before deciding whether to uphold their original decision or overturn it. It’s a pilot scheme that could, ultimately, change the way that VAR is used in football. However, as it seems there always is in the beautiful game’s complex rulebook, there’s a catch…
What Are Blue and Purple Cards in Football?
This new system has been given the working title of Football Video Support (FVS). It has already been tested in a series of leagues and tournaments, including the women’s Serie A and men’s Serie C, but was rolled out for the first time at a major event at the Under-20 World Cup, which was held in Chile across September and October 2025.
And, on October 16, Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi became the first to use his blue VAR ‘challenge’ card after the referee chose not to give his side a penalty in their game against France.
During the U20 World Cup semi-final, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi used the new ‘challenge card’ introduced by FIFA to allow a manager to call for a VAR review, challenging a possible refereeing error 😳🟦
The card is being trialled at the U20 WC, with a view to being… pic.twitter.com/6Cmvu8XrjR
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) October 16, 2025
After waving his card at the fourth official, the incident was sent for review – the referee, after watching the footage pitchside, ultimately decided that his original verdict was correct and so awarded no penalty. In this scenario, each manager has two challenge cards – one blue, one purple – that they can use. If their review is unsuccessful, they lose one of their cards. If their challenge is upheld, they keep their challenge card.
A player can ask their head coach to review a decision, although challenges can only be made when it is believed that a ‘clear and obvious error’ has occurred or there’s a perceived ‘serious missed incident’. And only then, it can only be used to review incidents that have led to a goal being given or not given, a penalty awarded (or not awarded) or a red card being shown (or not shown).
The trial, which began back in October 2024 at the women’s Under-17 World Cup, has been warmly received, which convinced IFAB – the organisation responsible for updating football’s universal rulebook – to give the green light to an extended pilot scheme.
As the chief executive of the Irish Football Association, Patrick Nelson, correctly pointed out, it will allow a version of VAR to be implemented at lower league level, where a full rollout of video technology is not technically feasible. He commented:
With the best will in the world, VAR will only ever be affordable at the top levels in some countries – and in some other countries it won’t be affordable at all.
This system [FVS] would be available for games that are only covered by maybe one, two, three or four cameras. That would include lots of leagues around the world. It really democratises the idea of supporting referees to make better decisions.
Will the VAR Challenge System Be Used in English Football?
The idea behind FVS is that it can be deployed in leagues and competitions with little resources and manpower, delivering a ‘lite’ version of VAR that could improve the success rate of refereeing decisions at the lower levels of the sport.
FIFA has described their Football Video Support system as ‘cost effective’ and ‘scalable’. It can used in conjunction with as few as four TV cameras, which is why leagues such as Liga F – the top-tier of women’s football in Spain, Serie C and the Primera Federacion (the third tier of men’s football in Spain) have already adopted FVS full time for the 2025/26 season.
Who better to explain Football Video Support in detail than FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina?
Here’s everything you need to know. pic.twitter.com/gmMug5M8sO
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) May 17, 2024
The implication is that this new video review system COULD be rolled out in English leagues that aren’t currently covered by VAR; which, at the time of writing, includes the Championship and the rest of the EFL, as well as the National League pyramid. However, it’s believed that the challenge system would need to pass a majority vote of member clubs before it could be introduced.
Will Blue and Purple Cards Be Used in the Premier League?
As mentioned, in games that are using the video support system, managers are given a blue card and a purple card with which to instigate their challenges of refereeing decisions. Given that decision reviews have been implemented successfully, you suspect that many football fans will be supportive of the idea of blue and purple cards – even if many still need convincing that VAR itself is right for the beautiful game.
In a study of cricket’s decision review system, it was found that 26% of the decisions challenged were overturned – meaning that without the ability to review, one-in-four umpire calls would be ‘wrong’… enough to suggest that some games, predicated by key moments, could be won as a result of bad officiating, as much as through skill.
Football’s decision makers will be desperate to improve the accuracy of refereeing – video support should help with that. But it WON’T be coming to the English Premier League any time soon. The system is only designed to be used by competitions that don’t have the resources or technology for a full VAR rollout.
There are no plans currently for blue and purple cards to be introduced to challenge VAR decisions. David Elleray, the former Premier League referee now employed as a technical director by IFAB, commented: “There’s no reason to have challenges with VAR because the video match officials check every single incident.”
