During its official Season 2 launch press conference, the International Swimming League announced that it would implement a video assistant referee (VAR) to the matches.
Each coach will be able to challenge an official’s call regarding a disqualification, with the VAR then put into use to see if the challenge was successful.
“Basically, we give the opportunity to the head coach of a team through the video assistant referee to dispute a disqualification that can happen in a start or in a relay exchange,” said ISL Technical Director Apostolos Tsagkarakis. “They get to dispute the decision of the head referee of the match.”
In some sports, an unsuccessful challenge can result in the team being penalized. Additionally, coaches often only get a certain number of challenges per game/match. Neither of these details have been released by the ISL as of yet.
As we saw in the inaugural season, DQs can cause massive swings in points in the ISL, and the addition of this challenge will give the team’s a chance if they feel a call was incorrect. Along with not receiving the points for where the team/swimmer finished, the club’s are also docked two (individual) or four points (relays) for a disqualification.
I am getting FIFA vibes