At long last
The Premier League have allowed referees to be given the opportunity to explain VAR decisions to fans during games.
As revealed by the Daily Mail, football’s lawmakers IFAB have allowed for the new process to be introduced from next season after successful trials in Mexico and Portugal.
Confirmation is expected to be made during the AGM meeting in March.
Premier League referees’ chief Howard Webb has been a huge advocate of introducing the idea since joining the PGMOL in 2022 and backs the idea of officials communicating their decisions with fans inside the stadium.
Any move would have to be ratified by Premier League clubs though, with a final decision set to be made at the league’s AGM in June.
A similar system to the one used at the Women’s World Cup last summer is expected to be used if approved.
This would mean that referees would be mic’d up and would announce their decision before explaining why the specific action had taken place.
Although the new changes would be a massive addition to football, there will be no plans to broadcast conversations between the referee and other match officials during matches. The audio would be available to listen back to after games though however.
VAR has been at the centre of controversy with several high-profile errors throughout the season. Most notably, the decision to incorrectly rule out Luis Diaz’s goal at Spurs for offside back in September.
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