A revolutionary approach to VAR could soon reshape football's landscape, with football legend Gary Lineker giving his stamp of approval.
Spain's third division is preparing to implement the Football Video Support (FVS), a system that grants managers two opportunities per match to challenge crucial decisions.
The mechanism mirrors successful review systems employed in cricket and tennis, offering teams the ability to contest goals, penalties, direct red cards and instances of mistaken identity.
The Primera Federacion is preparing to implement this "low cost" alternative during the current season, according to the Spanish Football Federation.
The new rules would see no automatic reviews of incidents
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The system represents a fundamental departure from conventional VAR, which automatically reviews all significant incidents regardless of whether teams dispute them.
Under FVS rules, teams retain their challenge opportunity if their appeal proves correct, but forfeit it following an unsuccessful review.
The process involves managers signalling their intention by rotating their finger in the air before presenting a review card to the fourth official, specifying which type of decision they wish to contest.
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The referee subsequently examines the incident using a touchline monitor, streamlining the review procedure whilst minimising expenses and disruption compared to standard VAR protocols.
Spain's premier women's division, Liga F, could endorse the FVS framework within days, potentially establishing itself as the first prominent competition to embrace this technology comprehensively.
This development would represent substantial progress in modernising women's football officiating, particularly as the Women's Super League currently functions without any video assistance.
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The teams are set to only have a a limited numbers of chances to use VAR
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FIFA's testing of the system yielded encouraging results during the previous year's Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in Zurich.
Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's head of refereeing, informed national associations at FIFA's yearly gathering in Bangkok that the trial had been "very, very positive".
The potential expansion of FVS comes as numerous top-tier competitions already employ semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), including the Premier League, Champions League, Serie A and LaLiga.
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Should FVS demonstrate its effectiveness in Spanish football, LaLiga might contemplate adopting the system, which could subsequently generate momentum for its introduction in the Premier League.
The technology offers a stark contrast to current VAR implementation, which examines every potentially game-altering moment without requiring team intervention.
Former England striker Gary Lineker has emerged as a prominent advocate for implementing an appeal-based approach to video officiating in English football.
Gary Lineker has been advocating for this system for years
| RESTISFOOTBALLSpeaking on the Rest is Football podcast last year, Lineker stated: "The only way out of this mess, and I think they should keep offside and goal-line technology. But I think you either scrap the rest of it or, more realistically, you take it to an appeal system."
He proposed limiting interventions, suggesting "maybe one appeal a half, but it stops VAR coming into every possible corner that comes in."
Premier League officials attempted to address existing concerns last season by introducing semi-automated offside technology for the competition's final seven matchdays.