Premier League refs chief’ refuses to make changes to VAR despite controversy over decisions, reveals David Gold
WEST HAM co-chairman David Gold declared VAR “alive and kicking” after a two-hour grilling of refs’ chief Mike Riley. The PGMOL boss faced fire from Prem club chiefs after continued VAR controversy. But despite some clubs voicing their unhappiness, in what was understood to be an at-times fractious meeting, it appears there will be no […]
WEST HAM co-chairman David Gold declared VAR “alive and kicking” after a two-hour grilling of refs’ chief Mike Riley.
The PGMOL boss faced fire from Prem club chiefs after continued VAR controversy.
But despite some clubs voicing their unhappiness, in what was understood to be an at-times fractious meeting, it appears there will be no major changes to the way the system is operated.
Instead, Riley will be expected to ensure his officials make more correct calls in future weeks.
The majority of club representatives declined to comment after a meeting that lasted more than four hours, while Riley himself chose not to speak.
But Gold did emerge to reveal: “There is no significant change, There’s not going to be any significant change.
“There is going to be an investigation.
“There was a lot of debate. We are making good progress. What I can say is that VAR is alive and kicking.
“This is a brand new system. We just have to be a bit more patient. We will get it right.”
Premier League statement on VAR
At a Shareholders’ meeting today, the implementation of VAR was discussed at length and the Premier League and PGMOL committed to improving the consistency of decisions, speeding up processes and increasing communication to fans.
Mike Riley, managing director of PGMOL, addressed the clubs and accepted improvement is required.
While VAR is an ongoing process and has corrected a significant number of on-field errors, he explained that speed and consistency of decision-making are priority areas of work and will improve as the officials become more experienced with the technology and protocols.
Going forward, and working within the IFAB protocol, there will be increased information made available to attending fans and viewers watching around the world.
This will explain in more detail what is being checked.
For example, under the current process, where the VAR graphic has shown “Checking Penalty”, it would say: “Checking Penalty – Possible Handball”.
This enhancement will be delivered in December 2019.
Importantly, the Premier League will continue to show the definitive clip or image for all overturned decisions in stadium, and remains the only major European league to do so.
However, IFAB protocol prevents video clips or stills being shown in stadiums until the referee has made a decision.
The same protocol also does not permit direct audio communication from the referee or VAR to fans.
While some clubs have even questioned the validity of VAR following the issues raised so far, the view in the room was that the integrity of the competition was critical.
That was a reason that an overhaul of VAR implementation is unlikely for the rest of this season.
What is evident is that clubs remain divided. Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said: “There are things that have got to improve.”
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On the issue of the pitch-side monitors, which have still to be used once in the first 120 matches of the season, Gold revealed he is not a proponent of the Uefa standard of routine video views by the referee being adopted in the Prem.
Gold added: “I hate the idea. I hate the idea of a referee that has been running around for an hour having to run over to a pitch-side monitor. I’m absolutely against it.
“Some don’t have that opinion. Some like the idea but personally I don’t think it’s supported.”