After two years of testing, nearly 1,000 matches and over 20 different competitions, the International Football Association Board has approved video assistant referees to be used on a permanent basis, with FIFA on the verge of deciding if VAR will be used at the 2018 World Cup this summer. The IFAB took the decision during its 132nd Annual General Meeting held at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, which was attended by the international federation's president, Gianni Infantino. The decision “represents a new era for football with video assistance for referees helping to increase integrity and fairness in the game,” IFAB said in a statement. It added the incidents that referred to would be in relation to:

Goal/no goal

Penalty/no penalty

Direct red card (not second yellow card/caution)

Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player)

VAR was first used at the Club World Cup in December 2016, and trialled in the 2017 Confederations Cup. Football’s world governing body FIFAexternal link, also based in Zurich, has said the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will be used at the World Cup in Russia if approved, while its European counterpart UEFA, based in Nyon, has said it will not be deployed in next season’s Champions League.
The International Football Association Board, which sets the rules for association football, approves the use of video assistant referees, which will be used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.