– It’s been going really well. Being able to do part of the training for referees in a place like the Norwegian Cup is great. “In my opinion, according to the jury, this is a good framework,” Knut Kristvang told NTB.

He is the project manager for VAR at the Norwegian Football Association. Kristvang thinks the players at the Norwegian Cup find it fun to be a part of refereeing education.

– I think it’s good enough. Many of them felt happy to be in such a thing. There was a footballer who was in fashion, and then he was told to handle it on purpose, so it was a bit special. “I think most people here think it’s pretty fun,” he continued.

Emilie Rodahl Torkelsen was one of the referees who received VAR training at Ekeberg. He made his debut as a referee in the 1st division this year and was one of five from the division to get a chance during the Norwegian Cup.

– We have now reached the point where we translate theory into practice. The training here, in a slightly informal setting, is great fun. Then we can take steps little by little and feel more and more stable, he told NTB.

– Heard that you made a mistake

He has tried himself as main referee and VAR and says you have to think with a slightly different head in different roles.

– I am surprised that it is not more stressful to receive messages from VAR. I mostly thought of being told that you had made a mistake, but it was a very pleasant experience. “It was about building a team, then we went from four in a team to VAR, assistant and VAR operator,” said Torkelsen.

He added that the players were also a little nervous about the occasion.

FIFA referee Svein Oddvar Moen was present as an instructor. He is trained to officiate matches with VAR internationally.

– We’ve come a long way. This is a demanding education, and there is much to be done. We want a situation where VAR and referees can try it. “We have a lot of interesting situations that demand not only the referee, but also for VAR,” he said.

Eight cameras

However, the experienced manager is aware that the wrong decision may come next season. VAR in Norway will consist of the production of eight cameras. There are significantly less than in international football.

– It is important to have an understanding of what VAR is in Norway. It won’t be like in the Champions League or EC and WC, where they have 32 or 42 cameras. We have eight cameras to work with, he said and added:

– There are still many situations that need to be discussed in Norwegian football. We will remove the obvious error from 2023.

Higher list

The chief referee at the NFF, Terje Hauge, was pleased with the start of the practical part of education and said that things popped up early to be dealt with.

– The first day went very well and according to plan. We’ve fully grasped the basics, and of course we see that there are points for improvement, but that’s why we’re here and practicing communication between the different roles, he said and added:

– And then there’s something we have to understand. We haven’t started training on that yet, but we can see that VAR has too much grip here. The list should be a little higher, but this is a sport, so it’s better to look at the screen too often than once too little to exercise.