Premier League ‘plan to release in-match conversations between referees and VAR officials’

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has claimed there is strong backing for the idea

The Premier League is reportedly planning to publicly release conversations between referees and VAR officials held during a match. As reported by The Times, the plan is to help supporters understand the process of how VAR decisions are made between the officials, while also improving transparency to fans. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has suggested that there is a strong backing for releasing the audio. He said: "There is a general view that [releasing the audio] is a good thing. There is a desire to be more open with fans about referees’ decision-making and how we do that precisely we need to work out." https://twitter.com/Football__Tweet/status/1554376135143821313 Major League Soccer has already trialled the concept - with a review of the on-field discussions between the referee and VAR officials being released on YouTube. VAR has been met with a mixed reception since its introduction to the English top flight in 2019. A number of decisions have proved controversial, especially calls relating to marginal offside calls after a goal is scored.

Semi-automated offside to be used at World Cup

FIFA has approved the use of Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) for VAR at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The intended purpose is to make decisions faster and more accurate, while also providing improved visualisation for supporters. The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system will take the place of the VARs manually linking lines across the field to players and selecting at what point the ball has been kicked. A sensor will be put in the centre of the balls, which will record data 500 times a second to detect when the ball has been kicked. Players will also be mapped in order to create an AI model of their position - in a similar way to how goal-line technology works.

Related links:

• Mike Dean comes out of retirement to become Premier League VAR official
• Semi-automated offside to be used at World Cup after successful VAR trials
• Man United officially the angriest fanbase over VAR calls, according to science