On Wednesday, the Swiss Football Association opened its doors and gave an insight into the work of referees on the pitch and in front of the screen.
15.01.2026, 08:48
15.01.2026, 09:42
SDA
It is a topic that is the subject of sometimes emotional debate in the football world weekend after weekend: the Video Assistant Referee, or VAR for short. In 2018, world football's governing body FIFA officially introduced the role of the video assistant referee. A year later, at the start of the 2019/2020 season, the stadiums of the Swiss Super League were also equipped for the use of supporting video material.
There were those who claimed that the introduction of VAR would make football clinical and emotionless, because emotional debates and legendary, historic footballing moments such as Maradona's "hand of God" or the Wembley goal would no longer be possible. These are concerns that have not been borne out in recent years.
Football arouses emotions as much as ever - precisely because, although there are countless technical aids available, there are still people behind the screens and at the buttons. People who can make mistakes.
The "croissant image"
It is something that is difficult to burn into the cortex of the common football fan's brain. After all, "people" had claimed that football would become fairer with VAR and that mistakes would be virtually eliminated to the point of non-existence. Even experts such as a national record goalscorer and trained cheese sommelier had repeatedly raised the polemical question in TV studios as to whether the video referees had been "fetching croissants" during a controversial decision.
The Swiss Football Association is well aware of these discussions, and those responsible at the SFA also know that the premises of the Video Operation Room (VOR) in Volketswil, from where the video referees follow the matches and what happens and is discussed there, are only accessible to an illustrious circle.
As intimate as in the dressing room
This is one of the reasons why the SFA is hosting an event at its headquarters at the Haus des Fussballs in Muri on Wednesday evening. The aim is to provide an insight into the work of the VAR. Unlike in other countries, where referees can specialize in VAR assignments, referees in Switzerland are deployed both on the field and behind the screens, and the aim is to professionalize this area. Fedayi San is one of the most experienced video referees in the country. His expertise is so highly regarded that he is used internationally exclusively as a VAR.
The third floor of the SFA headquarters has been converted into a small VOR for this evening: several screens showing match scenes from different perspectives, as well as a direct link for communication between the referee and his assistants, but also to the VOR in Volketswil. However, the officials are not presenting canned images and sound, but live footage from Geneva, where Servette kicked off the new year with a catch-up game against Lausanne-Sport.
"It's like being in the dressing room of a football team," says Sascha Amhof. "What you'll see and hear is very intimate." Amhof himself was a referee on the pitch for a long time. Today, he is responsible for the referee department at the association. Among other things, he is also responsible for the further training of referees.
Facts instead of feelings
During the winter break, the referees traveled to Cyprus for a training camp. In addition to the work on the pitch, the program also included a lot of theory. Amhof was also involved as a lecturer and taught the participants, among other things, what they need to pay attention to as VARs.
The man from Aargau presented a model consisting of three phases: the "awareness phase", the "decision making phase" and the "communication phase". The first phase involves describing a situation precisely and taking all factors into account, such as an offside or a previous foul. In the second phase, the VAR and his assistant decide whether an intervention is necessary. And finally, this is communicated. Amhof emphasizes how important it is not to be guided by emotions in this procedure. "A VAR who relies on feelings rather than facts is quickly out of the picture."
On Wednesday, Sven Wolfensberger and Julian Müller are on duty as VAR and AVAR, supporting Sandro Schärer and his assistants Stéphane De Almeida and Jonas Erni. Shortly before the ball rolls, Wolfensberger asks Schärer if he can hear him. And when he gives the go-ahead after a curt "yes", a confusion of voices breaks out on the communication channels.
DOGSO or not?
Is it a PAI, a penalty area incident? Or an IUA, an illegal use of arms? Is this foul simply an ordinary foul, or is it an SFP, a serious foul play? And did the defender intervene properly or was he guilty of DOGSO, which means denying of a goal scoring opportunity?
If you look over the shoulders of referees, you are fully immersed in the jargon of the referees, which suddenly makes one of the most popular games in the world seem much more complex than one ball, two teams, two goals.
Seven camera angles are available to the VAR and AVAR on this evening. They are supported by a replay operator, who takes care of quickly replaying potentially controversial scenes.
Like in the eleventh minute, when Lausanne's Karim Sow blocks a shot from Timothé Cognat. "Handball" is the possible offense. But Wolfensberger sees that Sow's arm was against his body. "Check over," he says to Schärer, who only hears the VAR when Wolfensberger presses the corresponding button.
"Watch out, Guillemenot is coming"
It's an evening on which the referees don't get into trouble either on the pitch or in the VOR. Not even when the player who had Wolfensberger warn his colleagues in advance was substituted in the final phase: "Watch out, Guillemenot is coming." Servette's attacking player has a reputation for going to ground even when there is no foul.
However, Guillemenot then joins the game in another way: "Kill, kill, kill", shouts Schärer, not asking his assistant to commit murder, but to raise his flag so that boss Schärer can interrupt the game with an offside whistle.
A short time later, Schärer ends the game. Wolfensberger had agreed with him and fourth official Zrinko Prskalo on three minutes of stoppage time and finally counted down the final seconds loudly so that Schärer could blow the whistle on time.
"For you," says Dani Wermelinger, "it might have been a bit boring now because everything went so smoothly." The head of the top referee department laughs. He knows that this was not always the case in the preliminary round of the Super League season and that some wrong decisions were not corrected. "We certainly didn't achieve the maximum number of points," says Wermelinger. "But we are in the top third of the rankings."
The VAR intervened a total of 75 times in the preliminary round, and in 72 cases an original decision was revised. Last year, these figures were 100 and 92 respectively. Wermelinger interprets this downward trend positively, but also says: "The number of interventions is only of limited relevance. The most important thing is that the decision is correct in the end."
It is a premise that will probably not be fully met in 2026 either. But it would also be a shame for all the discussions. Somehow.
