Considering the clubs' desire to help reduce errors on the field by officials, which is expressed in their willingness to purchase VAR trucks in sufficient numbers to cover all matches of Ukraine's Premier League, the UAF leadership has decided to conduct training for a corresponding number of Ukrainian referees. This is because applying this technology requires not only expensive equipment but also qualified and FIFA-certified human resources.

The course began in June and will last approximately until the end of September. It can be conditionally divided into two stages. The first stage involves independent work, while the second stage involves working on friendly matches, preliminary rounds of the Cup of Ukraine, PFL or youth competitions of the PL. This latter stage can be considered a kind of exam, with video footage of key moments uploaded to a special FIFA platform as proof of completion of training.

The independent work includes several sub-stages:

1. Familiarization with the system.

2. Work with simple and complex clips. These videos were created from materials of previous games with VAR. They involve video recordings from at least six cameras that need to be properly synchronized during viewing for "students" to learn how to prepare material for field referees, correctly choose the necessary angles (cameras), interact with replay operators. At these stages, only video technical officials (referee, his assistant and VAR observer) and technical staff (replay operators) are trained.

3. Work on the field and in the truck. During this stage, referees who will later be able to work with this technology on the field join the video technical officials. In addition to the VAR truck, a mobile television station (PTS) with at least six cameras is also involved in recording what happens on the field. On the field, young football players practice: a) situations where according to the Protocol the application of technology is required; b) short matches during which these aforementioned situations occur again. These training sessions are filmed and stored for FIFA's possible verification that the process meets the requirements of the FIFA IAAP Program (Program for Assistance in Implementation and Obtaining Permission to Use VAR). Additionally, this video is used for joint analysis with referees during lectures on theory immediately after such field training sessions.

At this point, independent training ends, and as we mentioned earlier, an exam takes place during real matches.

The training occurs across several VAR specialties.

For referees:

— work in the truck (VAR referee);

— work on the field with this system (field referee).

Note. A referee may combine both functions or initially master only one of them, such as working on the field, and later (during other courses) in the truck.

For assistants:

— VAR assistant.

For observers:

— VAR observer.

The replay operator is a technical specialist whose main function is to quickly find the moments indicated by the VAR referee or his assistant (assistant). To locate such situations faster, video officials press the "red button" (make a mark) during game viewing when they notice an error or something suspicious. Thanks to these marks, replay operators can find such suspicious situations and, at the referee's instruction, show them from different angles (camera views), slowing down, zooming in on the video, etc. If there is video evidence, for example, of a clear mistake by the field referee, technical staff together with the referee prepare material for its review on the field.

During this year's training course, it is planned to prepare:

— 9 VAR referees;

— 9 VAR assistants;

— 14 field referees;

— 8 VAR observers;

— 6 replay operators.

After the completion of training, we will have the following total number of specialists:

— 21 VAR referees;

— 21 VAR assistants;

— 32 field referees;

— 18 VAR observers;

— 19 replay operators.

This will allow for the full use of VAR trucks at all matches in Ukraine's top division, thus minimizing the number of possible errors on the field.

Of course, we are waiting for the arrival and readiness of the necessary number of trucks as soon as possible, but this is not such a quick process as we would like (usually it takes three to five months). Currently, we have three trucks. At the start of the championship, one truck will be used for training on matches of preliminary rounds of the Cup, PFL or youth competitions of the PL, as mentioned earlier. Two vehicles remain that can cover four matches of the championship (July-August). If all stages of training take place according to schedule, then the third truck will return in October, which is six matches.