In the wake of all the controversial calls that have been made this season, the Premier League has announced that major changes will be coming to the VAR system from next season onwards.
The usage and utilization of VAR continue to polarize people. The refereeing system has been heavily scrutinized recently following multiple mishaps in the Premier League.
First, there was the disallowed offside goal for Liverpool in their heated clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Then, there were two separate incidents involving Arsenal, surrounding whether the ball went out of play before goals they conceded against Newcastle and West Ham.
And even more recently, question marks were raised over the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty against Arsenal for a perceived handball.
With the frequency of such controversial calls rising, the Premier League has planned to take inspiration from cricket’s DRS system to implement changes in the PL’s very own VAR.
According to reports from Daily Mail, from next season, Premier League referees may be able to explain VAR decisions to fans next season in a potential major change in protocol.
This will be an attempt to mirror DRS in cricket, where the third umpire communicates every observation he makes to the on-field umpire and the public every step of the way, allowing for better transparency.
Rugby union and league also do likewise, while the NFL operates an instant replay process whereby the referee works with on-field operators and replay officials to come to the correct decision.
Even in the Women’s World Cup and the Club World Cup, the same type of process has been utilized, where the refs are mic’d up. After consulting the VAR monitor and agreeing on a decision, they will then declare the basic reasoning over the PA system to the crowd – such as identifying who committed a foul or was offside for example.
Football lawmakers IFAB (International Football Association Board) have reportedly given the Premier League referees the authorization to communicate their calls to those in stadium.
Trials of the newly proposed procedure have already been reportedly successful in Mexico and Portugal, and all that is required now is for the plans to be approved before being introduced by the Premier League.
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