European referee chiefs have agreed that VAR should only be used to overturn "blatantly incorrect" decisions or clear missed incidents, rather than for lengthy, forensic reviews of marginal calls. The stance follows a meeting of chief refereeing officers from all 55 Uefa member associations, alongside Uefa and International Football Association Board (Ifab) representatives, aimed at realigning VAR with its original purpose after concerns it has been overused to "re-referee" matches. This matters because it signals an effort to restore on-field referees as the primary decision-makers and reduce disruptive delays that have drawn criticism from players, managers and fans.

Uefa said VAR's founding "minimum interference, maximum benefit" philosophy, introduced by Ifab in 2018, was intended to correct clear and obvious errors on goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity, not to scrutinise every decision. Officials also addressed recent confusion over the "mistaken identity" rule used at this summer's World Cup, following Switzerland's Breel Embolo being sent off after Argentina's Leandro Parades was wrongly booked for his foul; Ifab clarified VAR should only identify the correct offender, not reassess the offence itself. There was also unanimous backing for measures to cut delays, including time limits on goal-kicks, throw-ins and substitutions, and new rules on injuries and goalkeeper time-wasting.