Referees at the World Cup finals will be able to dish out red cards for off-the-ball incidents spotted by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, soccer’s rule-making body IFAB has said.

“If there is something away from the action that has been missed and it later comes to the attention of the VAR or the assistant VAR, then they can inform the referee and he can send the player off, even if it is later in the match,” IFAB technical director David Elleray told The Times.

“We do not anticipate this happening very often… this would only be for serious red-card offences.”

The VAR system will be rolled out for the first time at a World Cup at the June 14 to July 15 tournament in Russia.