Will VAR be used in the League One and League Two play-offs? | OneFootball

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been a hot topic within the footballing world this season and this leads to the question of whether it will be used in the upcoming Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two play-offs.

The League One and League Two play-off semi-finals begin this Friday night and the finals are being played on the 18-19th May at Wembley Stadium.

VAR use in League One and League Two play-offs (semi and finals)

VAR will not be used in the semi-finals as the grounds that are being used within League One and League Two do not have the technology installed, as VAR is not used within the regular season, which makes it impossible for it to be used.

In the finals, VAR will most likely be used. The EFL has not yet announced if it will be used, but Wembley has the technology which will most likely lead to its use. VAR has been used in the past two play-off finals in League One and League Two that have been played at Wembley.

Last year the EFL came out with a statement on the 12th May that VAR would be used in all the EFL play-off finals, so we would expect another statement around the same time this year confirming when and where it will be used.

Historic VAR use in play-offs

VAR was introduced for all EFL play-off final competitions in the 2021/22 season. Again, this was only applied to the finals as the grounds did not have the VAR technology installed within them for the semi-finals.

EFL on VAR use in play-offs

The EFL last year announced that VAR would be used on the 12th May, just after the semi-final ties. We can expect an announcement will most likely be made after this year's semi-finals on whether VAR will be used in this year's final.

As we await the EFL's confirmation on whether VAR will be used in the finals, we can refer to the EFL's 2023/24 handbook (Sky Bet EFL Play-Off Rules 2023/24), where it states in Section 2.7 - Use Of Technology:

As we know, Wembley has the technology to support VAR and, should the EFL give the technology the green-light, we can expect to see it in use on the 18-19th May.