At the Premier League AGM on 6 June, Premier League clubs voted in favour of continuing with VAR which has been in use in the English top flight since August 2019.
Sky Sports News has been told that Wolves were the only club to vote for VAR to be scrapped.
Wolves were understood to be adamant, even the day before the Premier League’s AGM in Harrogate on Thursday, that they wanted a vote to take place, even though they anticipated a heavy defeat.
All the other 19 clubs voted for it to continue, with certain criteria for improvement.
A statement released by the Premier League confirmed that several improvements will be made to the technology to benefit both the game and its supporters:
Premier League clubs today voted in favour of continuing to operate VAR in the Premier League. While VAR produces more accurate decision-making, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of the game and supporters.
As part of thorough discussions at the Annual General Meeting, it was agreed that 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 focussed on as part of discussions with clubs:
- Maintaining a high threshold for VAR intervention to deliver greater consistency and less interruptions to the flow of the game.
- Reducing delays to the game, primarily through the introduction of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and the maintained high threshold for VAR intervention.
- 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.
- Working with PGMOL on the implementation of more robust VAR training to improve consistency, including an emphasis on speed of process while preserving accuracy.
- 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.
- 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 the autumn of 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 IFAB to allow greater flexibility in the Laws of the Game to allow live video and audio broadcast during VAR reviews.
The Premier League clubs also agreed to trial new financial rules next season imposing a squad cost-ratio (SCR) and providing top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA). These will not replace the problematic Profitaboility & Sustainability Rules (PSR) that Everton and others have breached, resulting in points deductions.
SCR: This limits a club’s spending on player wages and transfer fees to 85% of its revenue and the net profit or loss from its transfer dealings.
TBA: This is effectively a hard salary limit, which means every club’s wage bill is set at five times the amount of the lowest club’s media and sponsorship income.
The Premier League claims “[The trials] will enable the League and clubs to fully evaluate the system, including the operation of UEFA’s equivalent new financial regulations, and to complete its consultation with all relevant stakeholders. The overall system aims to improve and preserve clubs’ financial sustainability and the competitive balance of the Premier League, promote aspiration of clubs, facilitate a workable alignment with other relevant competitions and support clubs’ competitiveness in UEFA club competitions, while providing certainty and clarity for clubs, fans and stakeholders.”