PARIS — There were no Women’s World Cup matches Wednesday, but over almost 90 minutes in an auditorium tucked inside Parc des Princes stadium, three defenders were hard at work.
They were not players but FIFA officiating figures — all former referees themselves — responding to questions and criticism about the video replay system, which has been at the center of controversy in several matches.
Though they acknowledge the introduction of technology will not eliminate all mistakes, they defended the decisions made with help from the video assistant referee, or VAR, a review process introduced to soccer in 2018 and in use in a women’s world competition for the first time.