Why is there no VAR in the FA Cup third and fourth round?

Video assistant referee technology (VAR) and semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) will not be used until the fifth round of this season's FA Cup.

Because of infrastructure and operational costs, VAR had previously only been used at Premier League grounds, and at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals and final.

The Football Association says this decision will ensure a consistent refereeing approach for all clubs that take part in the competition.

Goalline technology, however, will be available for all fixtures hosted by Premier League and Championship clubs.

VAR will come into play for every tie from the fifth round of the FA Cup and will be available for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

However, SAOT will only be available from the fifth round, but only for matches hosted at a Premier League stadium.

The FA says this is due to the infrastructure and technology that is required for SAOT.

The technology requires 30 bespoke cameras to be installed beneath the roof at a stadium to monitor a variety of key elements.

The cameras - working at 100 frames per second - track the exact movement of the ball as well as 10,000 data points on the bodies of all 22 players.

It means it can be automatically determined whether an attacking player's body was beyond the last defender at the exact time the ball was played.

VAR officials check the system has correctly determined the three key points it measures before confirming the decision. The on-field officials then inform the players.

A 3D animation of the decision produced by the artificial intelligence is then played on television for viewers at home and on big screens in the stadium.

VAR was also not in use during the third and fourth round ties last season and it led to a number of notable talking points.

Manchester United progressed to the FA Cup fifth round after Harry Maguire scored a late header against Leicester City. The defender appeared to be offside but as VAR was not in use, it was not picked up by the officials and the goal stood.

Chelsea also felt Brighton's winning fourth round goal should have been disallowed as the ball struck Tariq Lamptey's arm in the build-up to Kaoru Mitoma's goal, but there were no video assistant referees in that round.

Birmingham City were also left aggrieved when goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell felt he kept out Joe Willock's first goal, but there was no goalline technology in operation at the League One ground. There was no conclusive proof that the ball had crossed the line, but the assistant referee flagged to award Newcastle the goal.

Dominic Hyam's header was also disallowed for offside in Blackburn's defeat by Wolves - when replays suggested he was onside.

Despite the incidents, former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given said he enjoyed seeing games not using video assistant referee technology.

"I think it's refreshing they had no VAR and I wish they had this throughout the competition," he told BBC Sport.

Ex-Birmingham City defender Curtis Davies said the technology takes the blame away from the on-field officials.

"When the computer makes a decision, you have no one to point the finger at," he said.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.