THERE would be 100 more incorrect refereeing decisions made per season if clubs vote to scrap video assistant referees (VAR), the Premier League has claimed.
The league sent a briefing document to all 20 clubs before the annual general meeting on Thursday, 6 June, explaining the reasons why it feels VAR should remain.
Wolves formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League in May, which triggered a vote on the continued use of VAR.
Premier League clubs are unlikely to vote through this proposal, though in-game VAR announcements are set to be introduced.
The Premier League sent a ‘VAR Improvement Plan’ to clubs on Wednesday, written by chief football officer Tony Scholes.
The document, seen by BBC Sport, includes a section on the foreseen impact of removing VAR.
Among the consequences listed is that some “match-defining” decisions from on-field referees which were incorrect would not be overturned should VAR be absent.
It acknowledges that while scrapping VAR would result in fewer interruptions and delays to the game, “significantly more officiating errors would be made (around 100 per season), including highly contentious match-deciding incidents, potentially in critically important matches.”
The Premier League also states there were only five incorrect VAR interventions last season, compared to 105 correct calls. This is an improvement on 2022-23, when the league says there were 11 wrong VAR decisions to 105 which were right.
Among the other reasons cited to keep VAR is that the Premier League is “contractually committed to significant operating cost elements of VAR for the next three years”.
As the Premier League would be the only major European league to remove VAR if the vote passes, the league warns that it would be “potentially damaging” to its reputation, while English referees would not get major assignments for Uefa or Fifa tournaments “as regular experience operating both on-field with VAR and acting as VAR domestically are critical”.
