Premier League Agrees To Defend VAR, Wolverhampton Wanderers Are The Only Opponents

Premier League participating teams agreed to defend the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) (photo: x @metalnnoticias)

The Premier League participating teams on Thursday 6 June agreed to defend the Video Assistant Referees (VAR), despite much criticism of the technology-assisted regulatory system last season.

The BBC reports that 19 of the 20 teams voted to keep the VAR, which was first introduced in the 2019-20 season. Meanwhile Wolverhampton Wanderers are the only team to vote against it.

"Although VAR resulted in a more accurate decision, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of games and supporters," the league said in a statement.

During discussions with clubs, the six main areas identified for repairs were:

The League confirmed in April that SAOT will be introduced in the fall of 2024 to provide faster and more consistent virtual offside line placements, based on player optical tracking.

Wolverhampton Wanderers expressed disappointment with the results of the vote in a statement to the BBC. "(However,) we recognize and accept the decisions made by our clubmates and we believe that the Premier League is paying serious attention to club and support concerns," Wolves said.

"We welcome the commitment to improve VAR... Although we still believe that Premier League football will be better for supporters, players, coaches and spectators without VAR, we think that this improvement is important for game integrity and to improve the experience of match day as a whole for our supporters," Wolves explained.

Liga dan Professional Game Match Officials Ltd. (PGMOL) mengatakan bahwa mereka akan terus melobi International Football Association Board (IFAB) untuk mengizinkan fleksibilitas yang lebih besar dalam memungkinkan siaran video dan audio langsung selama cursi VAR.