A New Blueprint for Remote VAR with Oceania Football Confederation
How LiveU made remote Video Assistant Refereeing possible across six nations with only portable infrastructure, and one second of latency
Background
For years, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) was the only FIFA confederation operating without Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. Traditional deployment was impractical: standard broadcast equipment freighted across the region was costly, faced customs delays and damage at island ports, and high-capacity fiber doesn’t exist across the island nations like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, and Tahiti. Any fixed-infrastructure approach was unworkable.
The Challenge: Bringing Oceania to FIFA-Level Standards
When VAR became mandatory for the OFC’s newly launched Pro League – spanning eight teams from six nations – OFC’s goal was to provide match officials with the same level of technology and support available at FIFA competitions. The challenge wasn’t simply introducing VAR – it was finding a way to make it portable, accessible, reliable and scalable across one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sporting regions.
"We were the only confederation in the world without VAR – and we knew, with traditional models, it would never happen for us."
Kevin Stoltenkamp, OFC Head of Refereeing
The Solution: Built for Mobility. Remote by Design.
Working with OFC’s refereeing and technology teams, LiveU designed a complete end-to-end remote integration system supporting the Hawk-Eye VAR platform – transmitting up to 12 simultaneous camera feeds from pitch-side venues across the Pacific to a centralized VAR hub in Auckland, with four return feeds delivered back to the venue.
Housed in portable kits that travel as airline check-in baggage, the system is deployable by a single operator over managed internet connections, with only portable infrastructure, and no specialist engineers required on the ground.
"The system is simple to use – you don't need to be highly technical to operate it. LiveU is the heart of the system…the technology is essential to making this work."
Mihaly Fabian, OFC VAR Project Manager
The Result: Remote VAR, Proven in the Field
The system achieves approximately one second of round-trip latency between remote Pacific venues and the Auckland hub, meeting FIFA’s professional standards at a fraction of the cost of any comparable fixed-infrastructure deployment. Across all deployments, it recorded a 100% success rate, with any issues diagnosed and resolved remotely from Auckland – no engineers needed on the ground. The solution has since expanded beyond the OFC Pro League. Supporting New Zealand Football’s FIFA Series and OFC’s Women’s World Cup qualifying semifinals and final, both FIFA-sanctioned competitions.
“We went from manually editing clips on a hill to delivering full VAR capability – that’s the scale of change.”
Kelvin Lewis, OFC Referee Technology Lead
Beyond the Pro League
By eliminating the need to transport heavy VAR infrastructure between countries, OFC now has a repeatable and cost-effective model that can be deployed wherever competitions are held. Beyond the Pacific, the model has drawn significant attention from sports organizations in other regions – demonstrating that broadcast-quality remote VAR is deployable anywhere, with only portable infrastructure, and no specialist engineers required. The deployment was built so that local Pacific Island technicians can own and operate it independently, creating a sustainable capability rather than a one-off project. It represents a replicable blueprint for any sports organization facing infrastructure constraints.
LiveU Remote VAR Solution Benefits
Cost reduction
Eliminate freight, customs delays, and fixed infrastructure costs. IP transmission over public internet delivers broadcast-grade VAR capability at a fraction of traditional deployment cost.
Ultra-low latency
Approximately one second of round-trip latency between pitch-side and your VAR hub – reliable enough for live officiating decisions, anywhere in the world.
Built-in resiliency
Bonded connectivity with backup path capability keeps transmission running under pressure. Issues can be diagnosed and resolved remotely, with no engineers needed on the ground.
Deploy anywhere
Portable kits that travel as standard airline baggage, operable by a single non-technical operator. No permanent infrastructure, no specialist crew – just plug in and go.