History made as referee explains VAR decision to fans in stadium for first time

History was made on Wednesday as the referee explained a VAR decision to the fans in attendance for the first time.

Al Ahly took on Auckland City in the first round of the FIFA Club World Cup at the Grand Stade de Tanger in Morocco.

Egyptian side Ah Ahly won 3-0 courtesy of goals from Hussein El Shahat, Mohamed Sherif and Percy Tau to progress to the second round of the competition.

Auckland, champions of Oceania, had a man sent off in the 97th minute when Adam Mitchell was shown a red card.

Taher Mohamed latched on to a ball in behind and Mitchell made a desperate attempt to tackle him. He mistimed it horribly and took the forward out after he beat him to the ball.

The incident was near the 18-yard box and Chinese referee Ma Ning awarded a penalty at first. But he then went over to the VAR monitor to the incident and it was at this point where the commentator confirmed history was about to be made.

He said: "And after Ma Ning has examined the footage and consulted with his colleagues he will, for the very first time in a FIFA tournament, announce the decision to the crowd and to you at home. This is a first in world football…”

Nang was mic'd up and he then told 47,000 fans over the PA system that the offence was actually outside the area but was deemed to have denied a goalscoring opportunity.

That meant he ran over to Mitchell and brandished the straight red card.

He explained: "Decision will be a free kick. Auckland No.3 – denial of a goalscoring opportunity.”

History today as the first VAR official explanation took place in the Al Ahly-Auckland City FIFA Club World Cup game.

Referee Ma Ning informed people that a penalty was overturned as the foul was outside the box, but a red card was shown to Adam Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/DvhN45eHAZ

— Roberto Rojas (@RobertoRojas97) February 1, 2023

This had never been seen before in football and fans will be hoping it is a sign of things to come after plenty of clamour.

Often when it comes to VAR calls, those in the stadium are not aware of what is going on - with the contents of the big screen not quite providing the full information.

The transparency will continue to be trialled at both the Under-20 and Women’s World Cup tournaments.