Premier League Referees’ Chief Howard Webb claims there has been a massive 80% reduction in the number of errors made by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) this season, Afrosport reports.
Since the introduction of the VAR in the Premier League in 2019, high-profile errors still go unchecked week in and week out, and stakeholders keep wondering if VAR has come to make football decisions more accurate or worse.
According to statistics carried out by the independent Key Match Incidents panel (KMI), a total of 31 incorrect uses of VAR were recorded during the 2023-24 season.
Despite calls by Wolverhampton Wanderers to have VAR scrapped in the Premier League in June 2024, the 19 other clubs voted in favor of keeping the system.
Also, according to the Premier League, who commissioned an independent survey, four out of five fans wanted to keep the VAR in the league.
The 2024/2025 season has seen the Premier League explain VAR decisions via a dedicated social media channel, although the introduction of the semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) has been delayed until 2025.
Despite the growing concerns, the Chief Refereeing Officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Howard Webb, claims that VAR mistakes are down 80% this season.
In an interview with the Stick to Football podcast, Webb said; “I don’t think we managed expectations well in terms of VAR.”
“We knew it was always going to be a situation where it was going to do well on those clear situations, the ones where you think, ‘that’s clearly wrong on first view’. We’re good at spotting those most of the time.
“We have this independent panel which has got ex-players on it, and they judge each decision each week, and according to the panel – which is independent from us [PGMOL] – there has only been two VAR errors this season compared to 10 at the same time last year.”
The former Premier League referee also noted that more focus has been given to making the right decisions in ample time.
Webb said, “We’ve been better at hitting the mark, but that can change, and we’re not going to get complacent, but it’s been better.”
“For me, the biggest thing of all is that it’s been quicker. The average delay last season through VAR was 70 seconds per game and this year it’s 25 seconds. It’s way better.
“I said to the guys, ‘Don’t ponder for too long, if you see a situation that jumps off the screen at you then get involved, but if you’re having to think about it too much and analyze it too many times then just say check complete because we’ll leave it with the referee on the field’. That’s why the term, ‘referee’s call’ is useful.”
Regardless of the progress made, Webb said he was sad the VAR failed to intervene on the red card issued to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes in the game against Tottenham Hotspur in September.
Referee Chris Kavanagh showed Fernandes a straight red card in the 42nd minute of the encounter for a late challenge on Tottenham’s James Maddison, but the red card was rescinded a couple of days later.
