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Back at the start of January, the FA Cup third round saw the introduction of Video Assistant Referee technology to the competition for the first time this season. But it was only deployed in some ties, and that will remain the case in this week’s fifth round matches.
Eight games will play out across the evenings of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, featuring reigning champions Manchester City and sixth-tier Maidstone United.
But only games played at Premier League grounds will use VAR, due to licensing rules.
The FA Cup has used VAR since 2018, when it was first deployed in a trial format. But the competition has never applied to the International Football Association Board (Ifab) for full use across the competition, which would be complicated to install at some Football League and non-league grounds.
So, this week, ties at Bournemouth, Luton, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Wolves and Liverpool will all have VAR enabled. But the two games hosted by Championship sides – Coventry City 5-0 Maidstone and Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United – will not use the technology.
The FA has been criticised for creating an imbalance in the way the game’s rules are implemented in the competition.
Responding to those complaints last year, the FA said: “Video assistant referees provide match officials with additional support and should be utilised wherever possible. However, only Premier League stadiums are currently licensed to use VAR due to the infrastructure, workforce and costs that are required.”
Full list of FA Cup fifth-round ties
Coventry City 5-0 Maidstone United
Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester City (AET)
Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Newcastle United (Newcastle win 4-3 on pens)
Luton Town 2-6 Manchester City
Chelsea v Leeds United – Wednesday 28 February, 7.30pm
Nottingham Forest v Manchester United – Wednesday 28 February, 7.45pm
Wolves v Brighton – Wednesday 28 February, 7.45pm
Liverpool v Southampton – Wednesday 28 February, 8pm
When is the FA Cup quarter-final draw?
The draw is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at around 7pm GMT, 30 minutes before Chelsea face Leeds on ITV4.
Is VAR being used in the FA Cup fifth round?
Yes, but only at Premier League grounds due to licensing rules. Read more here.
