VAR in Premier League: England’s top flight to trial VAR this season

According to SKY, fans will see VAR in Premier League matches, as early as on September 15.

Video Assistant Refereeing is one of football’s most recent systems which have already been introduced in some of Europe’s biggest leagues. However, the Premier League is still missing the technology that is seeking to revolutionize football.

Premier League’s refereeing committee called the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has decided to use VAR in as many as 15 matches this season as a testing device, understands Sky Sports and its sources.

PGMOL thinks that there are still doubts surrounding the system and that some stuff needs to be clearly sorted before the VAR can make its way into the Premier League.

The refereeing department is keen on analysing findings through this year’s matches and then come to a decision regarding the same, which could see VAR being implemented in the Premier League from next season onward. The first trial of the systems could be set to take place after this international break.

There will reportedly be five matches on September 15 with a 3pm kick-off that will have coverage from VAR. The hub for all its decisions sees the supervisors based in Stockley Park near Heathrow in England’s capital.

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While there won’t be a link between the VAR officials and match officials, it will be just to test if the technology is capable of handling as many as five matches during a given time frame. The EFL Cup matches have seen the use of VAR in recent matches while the FA Cup is also due to have a glimpse of it.

The PGMOL and Premier League administrators are only trying to get rid of vindictive flaws in the VAR systems that were visible especially during the World Cup. The most prominent and arguable decision upon consultation of VAR came in the final when France was awarded a penalty against Croatia that led to the winners’ second goal of the match.