Premier League announces major VAR change for the new season and fans are delighted it’s happening
A major change has arrived ahead of the new season.
The Premier League have announced a major change to VAR for the upcoming 2024/25 season – and fans are delighted.
The use of VAR has been accompanied by a number of controversies since the technology was first introduced to the Premier League in 2019.
Its aim is to eliminate human errors from referees, or be able to intervene on marginal decisions where the referee may not have the best angle.
Officials have also stressed that the technology will not ‘re-referee the game’ – although that claim, some believe, has been put to the test on numerous occasions.
One controversy last season even led to Nottingham Forest calling out the PGMOL – the referees’ body – in a viral tweet over several perceived incorrect decisions against Everton.
Wolves then put forward a motion to scrap VAR entirely at the Premier League’s Annual General Meeting – but that was rejected by other clubs.
One of the reasons for the rejection is that PGMOL are planning to introduce semi-automated offsides, which mean that offside decisions can be made quicker and to exact standards each time.
But another change has now been announced which has been met with a positive response from fans – the Premier League Match Centre.
The Match Centre is a new social media account on Twitter, which the Premier League says will provide ‘near-live explainers and updates on operational and officiating matters for every Premier League match’.
As live VAR audio still cannot be broadcast to fans inside the situations – PGMOL chief Howard Webb stated this was something due to be discussed last season – the Premier League have opted for a different option to allow fans to access information directly from the VAR Hub during matches.
A Premier League statement reads: “Premier League Match Centre – based at Stockley Park – is the operational hub of the League that helps with the smooth running of matchday operations of the competition.
“It is linked into all 20 Premier League stadiums, the VAR Hub and broadcast partners around the world.”
