VAR set for major change in Premier League following backlash

VAR has been a source of controversy since its introduction to English football - and it could be set to face a major change in the way that it is implemented ahead of the next Premier League season.

Previously, VAR had only been called into action when a ‘clear and obvious’ error was committed - from next season onwards, it will be used only when the original call made by the referee is ‘clearly wrong’. This is the latest initiative being pushed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Howard Webb.

As such, VAR will only be able to be called upon in the event of a clear error by the referee. This includes disallowing goals and the ability to alter the severity of punishment for fouls - for example, VAR will still be able to upgrade yellow cards to red cards.

Furthermore, ‘limb tracking’ technology will be used when making offside calls using VAR. This should reduce the time taken on average to make a VAR offside call last less than a minute. Furthermore, referees are also set to be given microphones, which they can use to explain decisions to fans within the stadium.

Of course, this may all be a moot point. On June 6, representatives from each of the 20 clubs in the Premier League will meet up in Harrogate and take a vote on whether VAR should be scrapped entirely or not.

While this is a distinct possibility, it seems unlikely. To pass the vote, it would need the support of two-thirds of the voting pool - meaning that at least 14 clubs would need to vote in favour of scrapping VAR for this to become a reality. Furthermore, it would make the Premier League anomalous in the sense that it would be the only top league to not use VAR.