2025 Southeast Asian U23 Final to apply VAR

TPO - The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) confirmed that VAR "technology" will be used in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 final between Vietnam and Indonesia.

VAR returns in the final match of U23 Southeast Asia 2025

The 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Finals surprised everyone by not using VAR ( video assistant referee). This is considered a very confusing decision by the host country Indonesia and the AFF, especially when other youth tournaments, including the Southeast Asian U16 and U19 tournaments, all have VAR.

Indonesia did not give a specific explanation for ignoring VAR. However, this could be the result of the AFF's last-minute decision to change the host country. Initially, the AFF chose Thailand to host the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in August, but in mid-April, they decided to choose Indonesia and moved the schedule up a month.

Without VAR, many controversial situations have occurred in Indonesia. Most notably, referee Muhammad Usaid Jamal made a rare mistake in the semi-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Philippines. In a situation at the end of the match, the Malaysian referee mistakenly gave a red card to Jaime Rosquillo (number 14), while the person who deserved to be sent off was Noah Leddel (number 2).

In that context, AFF decided to bring back VAR in the final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia on July 29. This is a match that promises to be very tense and may have many controversial situations. With VAR, referees will have the opportunity to correct mistakes immediately, ensuring fairness for both teams.

Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chung-ket-u23-dong-nam-a-2025-ap-dung-var-post1764025.tpo