Football Manager 2019 proves there’s no escaping the sport’s most controversial new rule

If you think your team has scored a dramatic last minute winner in Football Manager 2019, you might want to wait a few seconds before lifting your shirt over your head and running around the living room.

Yes, FM2019 will also consult the Video Assistant Referee – the dreaded VAR – to adjudicate on key decisions like whether a player was offside, or whether a foul was committed.

VAR is among five new features added today, which also include goal-line technology, a revamped training module, tactics options and a new managerial induction tutorial feature.

In a post on the Sports Interactive community forum the company said the VAR feature will only be deployed in competitions that use it in real life, and in the same way as it is used in those competitions.

You can see how the new training module and VAR will look in the videos posted to Twitter below:

The post reads: “FM19 sees the introduction of two pieces of video technology that have been used in the real world in recent seasons. The first of these is Video Assistant Referees or VAR, which will be included in competitions that make use of the technology in reality.

“There are two types of VAR – one where the referee uses a TV screen by the side of the pitch to assess the original decision and one where the referee communicates with the Video Assistant Referees via an earpiece.

“Again, the type of VAR you see when playing is dependent on how it is used in the real-life competition.”

VAR has proved a controversial addition to the real-world football rulebook, potentially affecting the outcome of the World Cup Final this summer. Will it affect your run to the final too?

Will you be grabbing FM2019 when it goes on sale on March 2? How do you feel about VAR being added to the experience?