The Premier League is set to introduce changes to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, regardless of the outcome of an upcoming vote that could see its complete removal.
While Wolverhampton Wanderers proposed abolishing VAR, the vote at the Premier League’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) is expected to maintain the technology. This is likely due to several factors:
European Consistency: Many Premier League clubs compete in European tournaments that already use VAR. Scrapping it domestically would create confusion for players and teams.
Lower League Investment: Clubs in the lower divisions have apparently already started to invest in VAR implementation , making them hesitant to abandon the system entirely.
The Premier League acknowledges the need for improvement and plans to implement the following changes:
Transparency for Fans: Similar to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, fans will be informed of VAR decisions through in-stadium announcements.
Faster Offside Calls: Semi-automated offside technology is expected to streamline offside calls, reducing the time it takes to make these decisions.
A more controversial suggestion involves including elite referees from other countries in the Premier League pool. While the Premier League and PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) have previously opposed this, some clubs believe it could enhance refereeing standards.
The PGMOL maintains that English referees are among the best in Europe, evidenced by their selection for Euro 2024. They, along with the Premier League, believe VAR has improved decision accuracy, which is the system’s core objective.
The Premier League seems committed to VAR despite calls for its abolition. The upcoming vote is likely to favour maintaining the system, with planned improvements aimed at addressing fan frustrations and enhancing overall officiating standards.
The issue is not with the VAR technology, but the human beings who are implementing it.
More importantly, the actually rules of the game and how they are interpreted by officials.
There have been so many controversial calls in games this season, and VAR has been culpable in upholding some terrible decisions.
My perfect example: Antony Gordons 2nd penalty at Newcastle.
Philips has possession of the ball, Gordon lunges in on Philips as he is in the process of clearing the ball. Gordon plays the player, not the ball, he doesn’t touch the ball but takes the man. IMHO that’s a foul on Philips by Gordon. The referee does not give the pen. yet VAR tells him they think it’s a foul and to review.
Maybe I don’t understand the rules of football.
Please no foreign ref’s they’re even worse than the English ones
The whole point of VAR is to see what actually happened surely. Cut out all the stuff about whether the ref has made an obvious error or not and just see what happened. What actually happened is not going to change dependent on whether the ref has made an error or not, what are we checking up on what actually happened or the ref ?
Payers should be onside if VAR cant decide without lines That is how a linesman would see it Any bad error by VAR reviewer then ban them for a month from any matches
To abolish VAR should be up to the paying football fans, not the Premier officials.