Clubs encouraged to give feedback on VAR implementation as Premier League will not be forced into knee-jerk reaction after early contentious calls
- The Premier League are encouraging teams to constantly give VAR feedback
- Already in the season a number of contentious calls have been given by the tech
- No knee-jerk reactions will be made by the Premier League in amending VAR
- A shareholders’ meeting next month will provide a convenient feedback forum
There will be no knee-jerk reaction to four contentious VAR penalty decisions in the latest round of Premier League games but all clubs are being encouraged to provide their feedback on the new system.
The video assistant referees have overturned a total of six calls in the opening 30 fixtures of the new season.
Only one of them has been a ‘subjective overturn’ which was the decision to rule out a Chelsea goal scored by Kurt Zouma at Norwich on Saturday, for a foul by Olivier Giroud on goalkeeper Tim Krul not given by on-field referee Martin Atkinson.
There will be no knee-jerk reaction to four contentious VAR penalty decisions in the last week
The others have been for offside which ruled out goals by Raheem Sterling for Manchester City and Leandro Trossard for Brighton, encroachment on a penalty by West Ham’s Declan Rice and the controversial handball calls which ruled out goals scored by Gabriel Jesus for City and Leander Dendoncker for Wolves.
Premier League referees’ boss Mike Riley has started with a deliberately high bar to determine the subjective decisions after excessive interference from the video assistants during the Women’s World Cup caused frustration among players.
Gabriel Jesus protests after referee Michael Oliver disallows his late goal against Tottenham
This was made clear to the 20 clubs, their managers and captains before the start of the campaign.
Riley insists he is prepared to listen to the feedback, however, and lower the bar during the course of the season if that is what the clubs demand.
Decisions which drew attention last weekend were all for penalties claimed for fouls on Harry Kane, David Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and Antony Martial.
All four were strong claims which divided opinion among television pundits when reviewed but Riley and his team of video experts were satisfied with the outcome and report there has been no immediate clamour for change.
Teams are being encouraged to continually offer feedback on the VAR implementation
The guidance for the video assistant referees is to overturn only the clear and obvious mistakes and not to wrest too much power from the officials on the pitch who are expected to have more feel for the game.
Contact is perhaps the most difficult to judge when operating on slow-motion video replay far away from the pace of the game.
The Premier League’s shareholders’ meeting next month will provide a convenient forum for clubs to make formal representations on the first few weeks of VAR
