Last week, 19 out of 20 UK Premier League clubs voted in favour of continuing to operate Video Assistant Referees (VAR) throughout Premier League matches. The vote took place at the Premier League’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In May, the Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League, asking for VAR to be removed entirely in time for the start of the 2024/25 season. The club believes the introduction of VAR has led to “numerous unintended negative consequences that are damaging the relationship between fans and football”.
In February, the Premier League had said that that VAR was helping match officials get more of the big decisions right but had identified that there are still areas of improvement for fans.
As part of the discussions at the AGM, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of the game and supporters. It was also confirmed that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the Premier League and clubs all have important roles to play in improving the system and its reputation.
As part of ongoing work to improve VAR, six key areas were focused on as part of discussions with clubs:
1) Maintaining a high threshold for VAR intervention to deliver greater consistency and less interruptions to the flow of the game.
2) Reducing delays to the game, primarily through the introduction of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and the maintained high threshold for VAR intervention.
3) Improving fan experience through a reduction in the delays, in-stadium announcements from referees after a post-VAR change of decision and where possible, an enhanced offering of big screen replays to include all VAR interventions.
4) Working with PGMOL on the implementation of more robust VAR training to improve consistency, including an emphasis on speed of process while preserving accuracy.
5) Increasing transparency and communication around VAR – including expanded communications from Premier League Match Centre and through broadcast programming such as Match Officials Mic’d Up.
6) The delivery of a fan and stakeholder VAR communication campaign, which will seek to further clarify VAR’s role in the game to participants and supporters.
It was confirmed in April that Semi-Automated Offside Technology will be introduced in autumn 2024.
The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.
The Premier League and PGMOL will continue to lobby the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to allow greater flexibility in the Laws of the Game to allow live video and audio broadcast during VAR reviews.
