Many teams in the Premier League complain that VAR has caused them to suffer unfairly. However, faced with eliminating VAR, up to 19/20 Premier League teams opposed this proposal.
In May, Wolves launched a motion to scrap the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system from the 2024-25 season after finding they suffered from a string of poor decisions during the past Premier League season. .
Therefore, the issue was discussed at the Annual General Meeting today (June 6) with the participation of 20 clubs in the Premier League. To scrap VAR, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs need to vote in favor of doing so.
The referee uses VAR in a Premier League match (Photo: FS).
In fact, VAR still did not operate completely accurately last season, becoming a problem that made many teams frustrated. That leads to doubts about Premier League teams being willing to abandon VAR. However, the reality is completely opposite, despite complaints, most teams in the country’s highest tournament still want VAR, with a voting ratio of 19-1 (19 votes chose to keep VAR, 1 vote voted to remove VAR).
The English Football Association (FA) announced: “Premier League clubs today voted in favor of continuing to operate VAR in the Premier League.”
“While VAR makes more accurate decisions (compared to the pre-VAR era), everyone agrees that improvements need to be made for the benefit of the game and its supporters.”
“VAR was part of the thorough discussions at the Annual General Meeting, it was agreed that the PGMOL (Referee Governing Council), the Premier League and the clubs all have an important role to play in improving To improve the system and reputation of VAR, six key areas have been focused on in discussions with clubs.”
Arguably the most egregious example of VAR’s failure is Luis Diaz’s “ghost goal” scored against Tottenham last October, a goal that was ruled out due to the incorrectness of an offside rule. while communication between officials broke down and prompted Liverpool to demand a “complete transparency review” from the Premier League.
VAR will continue to be used in the Premier League with high support rates, despite complaints (Photo: FS).
A series of other incidents also occurred throughout the season, with Wolves manager Gary O’Neil criticizing the system in November 2023 after three incorrect VAR decisions were made on his team in the match against Fulham.
“I’ve always supported VAR, but I think it’s causing a big problem at the moment. I’m managing a big football club here. The difference VAR is making to the club’s reputation me, the advancement of the club in the league, the livelihood of the people is huge,” Mr. O’Neil said.
“You can’t just rely on technology in the best league in the world, that’s completely wrong. We should really discuss the game but unfortunately we have to discuss VAR. However, there is It seems the clubs are more interested in seeing improvements and drastic changes in the current system than scrapping it completely.”
The FA claim that VAR has improved correct decisions from 82% before its introduction to 96% this past season.
However, Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association, told BBC Sport that “most fans agree with Wolves”.
He said: “Support for the initial introduction of VAR has collapsed and 80% of fans are saying VAR provides a poor or very poor experience, so we cannot continue to be satisfied with VAR technology. Present”.
“Most of our members believe that the cost of spoiling the match experience is no more expensive than a small increase in correct decisions”.
“It’s good that Wolves have raised the idea of banning VAR, it’s a catalyst for a real debate and whatever happens it’s important that the debate continues.”