Premier League to use video assistant referees from next season
Written by News on 15/11/2018
Video assistant referees (VAR) will be used in Premier League games from next season.
They will review on-pitch decisions made by the head referee after clubs agreed “in principle” to bring in the system.
VAR was used at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and has already been seen in some FA Cup and Carabao Cup games.
The Premier League will now make a formal request to the International Football Association Board and FIFA in order to introduce the technology.
It said it will establish a “clear protocol” for the way VAR decisions are communicated to fans in stadiums following previous criticism from supporters.
There were renewed calls to introduce VAR to the Premier League after Southampton were denied a second goal – which they believed should have stood – in their match against Watford last weekend.
The decision prompted a furious post-match interview from striker Charlie Austin, who said: “We scored a perfectly good goal that was ruled out for offside. The officials cost us two points.
“People go on about VAR, they clearly need help.”
Premier League clubs voted against the introduction of VAR this season at a meeting back in April.
However the system was largely hailed a success at this summer’s World Cup and it is already in use in Europe’s other top-four leagues of France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
In the World Cup group stage, 335 incidents were checked by VAR officials which led to 14 referee calls being overruled.
(c) Sky News 2018: Premier League to use video assistant referees from next season
