(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AFP
Berlin: The historic debut of the video assistant referee in Germany's top flight got a thumbs up from the relieved match referee after it spotted a penalty in Bayern Munich's opening win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern were 2-0 up at home in Friday's first game of the new Bundesliga season when the VAR, which is being trialled for the first time in the German league this season, made its first intervention.
The controversial system came under the spotlight in the second-half in Munich when Leverkusen's Charles Aranguiz pulled Robert Lewandowski's shoulder to send the striker tumbling.
The match referee Tobias Stieler signalled -- outlining a television screen with his fingers -- that the incident should be reviewed by the video assistant referee, Jochen Drees, who was watching 575kms (357mi) away at the project's headquarters in Cologne.
Drees quickly confirmed the foul verbally to Stieler via a headset and Lewandowski slotted home the resulting penalty to seal Bayern's 3-1 win after Admir Mehmedi scored Leverkusen's consolation goal.
'I'm glad it worked so well, because what would have happened without the video assistant? asked Stieler after the final whistle.
'I would have returned to the changing room to hear that I had missed an obvious penalty.
The VAR system made its senior international debut at June's Confederations Cup in Russia, but sparked controversy, receiving a mixed reception from fans after causing long delays and some confusion.
It is being further tested in the German league this season before world football's governing-body FIFA decides whether to use it at next year's World Cup finals in Russia.
Behind the scenes, former FIFA referee Hellmut Krug, the German Football Association's (DFB) referee manager and VAR project manager in Germany, was clearly relieved.
'We are satisfied with the opening game, said Krug.
'Our intense preparations have paid off, he added after the technology behind the system was tested in the Bundesliga last season, but was not made available to referees in the relevant matches.
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