Dodgy Refereeing Decisions To Be A Thing Of The Past? Premier League All Set To Get VAR From 2019-20 Season

After initial disagreements, Video Assistant Referees (VAR) are all set to be used in the Premier League from the next season, after the clubs agreed in principle for their introduction.

The Premier League board will now be making a formal request to the International Football Association Board and FIFA board regarding its introduction.

The VAR is currently in use in Seria A, La Liga and Bundesliga and was used in the 2018 World Cup. This technology has also been used in a few FA Cup and Carabao Cup games.

However, the Premier League has been carrying out "non-live" trials this season and VAR will also be put to use in the Champions League from the 2019-20 season.

After earning a draw last week thanks to bad refereeing decisions, Southampton manager Mark Hughes said, "All major sports have video reviews and for some reason the Premier League, which is watched across the world, is still in the dark ages." as reported by BBC Sport.

In regard to VAR’s introduction, the clubs were given an update at a meeting on Thursday (15 November) and in a statement released by the Premier League, it said that the non-live testing would continue for the remaining season "with a continued emphasis on those Saturday afternoons which have several matches being played concurrently". The concern as to how the decision made by the VAR would be communicated to the fans in the stadium will also be addressed.

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey, speaking on BBC Radio 5 live Afternoon Edition said, “The referees will still want to go out and get the key match decisions right, it's very important that referees are not hiding behind the VAR - they've still going to be making these big calls correctly”.