Fans meet ref bosses today to discuss VAR with everyone wanting "less is more".
VAR is there to support the sport not to run - or ruin - the show
Timing is everything in sport. It is particularly well-timed that supporter groups meet Premier League officials at Stockley Park today to discuss a range of issues, and will also spend time with PGMOL officials discussing VAR. Fans want to raise concerns over refereeing standards and implementation of VAR in English football. The time is right because the meeting comes at the end of a week of European football in which we saw the more welcome, lighter touch refereeing encouraged by Uefa. PGMOL wants the same - less is more - but fans clearly need convincing that it’s happening.
Of course the standard was going to be better as the Continent’s best officials were in action, not simply those from one nation. Players tend to be more respectful of officials in European competitions, believing they, like the players involved, are the best of the best. Danny Makkelie, Francois Letexier, Anthony Taylor, Felix Zwayer and Istvan Kovacs are widely considered the best in Europe and will surely be in contention for the Champions League final in Munich (finalists’ nationality permitting). But it is also the approach taken by Uefa - less forensic.
Casting an eye over the midweek fare of Liverpool-Lille, Arsenal-Dynamo Zagreb and Manchester United-Rangers it did seem that there was less recourse to VAR and certainly no long delays. Some of the spontaneity of the sport was restored. How many games ended with technology being the debating point rather than tactics or playing ability? None, really. And football is all the better for that. VAR is there to support the sport not to run – or ruin - the show.
PGMOL is understandably protective of its officials. It cites the independent Key Match Incident panel as showing that so far this season “87% of on-field decisions have been correct” (3% increase on 2023/24) and there have only been 10 VAR errors, half that of this time last year. It argues that VAR efficiency has improved: “the average VAR delay currently stands at 37 seconds”, adding this is “significant reduction” on the “average 68 seconds” this time last year. The PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, is adamant that his officials pursue his “less is more” mantra.