Tuesday, November 5, 2024

VAR: ‘100 more wrong decisions if VAR scrapped,’ claims Premier League

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In the same briefing document, the Premier League accepts there are issues with VAR which it is attempting to sort, including the amount of time it takes for decisions to be made.

The document says the average delay to a game for a single VAR check lasted 64 seconds in the 2023‑24 season, up from 40 seconds in 2022-23.

One expected change is the use of in-game VAR announcements from referees, which Fifa introduced at a number of its competitions last year, including the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

These changes are likely to be welcomed by most Premier League clubs. BBC Sport understands Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham are among clubs who want to keep VAR, but are demanding that improvements are made.

Liverpool are also not supporting moves to get rid of VAR.

But Wolves remain staunchly in favour of scrapping VAR and sent out a briefing paper of their own on Wednesday.

The club highlight as issues the negative impact on match-going fans and their experience at games, as well as what they claim is a more negligible impact on correct decisions.

“Wolves argue that the use of VAR has led to increased disengagement among the Premier League’s match-attending fans due to its adverse effects on the match experience, resulting in apathy, hostility and erosion of trust in football’s authorities and officials,” they said in the paper.

They added: “Premier League data shows an increase in correct decisions from 82% pre-VAR to 96% with VAR, highlighting its effectiveness in reducing errors.

“If we put aside the argument on whether the data is credible and convincing, while overall accuracy might be increased to a debatable degree, the cost in terms of match enjoyment and fan engagement outweighs these benefits.

“The integrity of the game is compromised by lengthy interruptions and inconsistent application of VAR protocols.”

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