By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
FIFA is set to push ahead with a major Video Assistant Referee, VAR, rule change for the 2026 World Cup, despite meeting early resistance from several football stakeholders.
The world football governing body is moving forward with a fresh phase of VAR expansion that will specifically apply to corner-kick situations during next year’s World Cup.
This development follows an October meeting of the International Football Association Board, IFAB, where members agreed that VAR could be broadened to cover wrongly issued yellow cards which could lead to a red. However, the idea of extending VAR scrutiny to corner-kick decisions was turned down at the time.
BBC Sport reports that FIFA is pressing on and wants the new corner-kick review protocol used on the global stage, even though domestic leagues across different countries have refused to adopt it for their competitions.
The final call will be tied to the tournament’s technical guidelines, but for now, FIFA appears determined to introduce this layer of officiating for corner-kick incidents when the 2026 World Cup kicks off.