The Premier League will consider making VAR audio regularly available to the public next season depending on how a pilot programme is received on Monday.
Discussions between VAR officials and referees making key decisions in Premier League matches will be aired for the first time ever on Sky’s Monday Night Football [MNF], with insight from referees’ chief Howard Webb.
The PGMOL – the body which looks after referees in the top four tiers – is attempting to be more transparent to improve communication with supporters and the game’s key protagonists.
The move to broadcast officials’ audio has been driven by Webb, one of football’s most highly-rated referees in his day, who is introducing significant structural changes to the organisation in his role as chief refereeing officer.
Webb will join regular MNF pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville from 6.30pm ahead of the match between Leicester City and Liverpool to talk viewers through footage and accompanying audio of big calls in the 2022-23 season. The aim is to educate fans on why certain decisions were made.
While this is a one-off this season, figures from the Premier League and PGMOL will mull over the prospect of making the audio available on a more regular basis next season following Webb’s appearance.
Fifa rules prevent audio of mic’d up officials from being broadcast but they are permitted to be made public after matches.
Webb was head of referees in the MLS and oversaw the introduction of conversations being played after matches in the US, which he feels was beneficial to understanding why officials came to certain conclusions.
The French Football Association has also been pressing ahead with making conversations between officials available to supporters. TV viewers were able to watch back the Ligue 1 match between Lyon and Nantes last month with audio of the officials.
— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) April 23, 2023
Jérémie Pignard : "Cette main n'est pas sanctionnable."
L'arbitre de la rencontre #FCNESTAC nous livre l'explication de sa décision cruciale. #FCNESTAC pic.twitter.com/GIffIbjCI8
English translation of French referee Jeremie Pignard’s VAR explanation
“This goal would have been disallowed if the scorer would have been the person who touched the ball with his arm. That is the first thing to take into account,” Pignard said.
“We see that in this situation his team-mate is the one who scorers, so we already forget this rule. Now it is necessary to know if the hand if the player who controls the ball is sanctionable or not.
“I don’t know right away and being in doubt, I let the action unfold until the end, whereas if I had whistled straight away we would have missed that goal.
“Now VAR comes into play and he must decide whether for him at the level of the laws of the game whether this hand is punishable or not. It is really from the bottom of the biceps it is not okay.
“You can see why I took my time because it was an important decision and VAR did well to send me so I could see the image, and I then explained to the coach and he ended up understanding the laws that this ball clearly touches the player’s sleeve.
“So it is a natural movement, we are not there to penalise the players and ask them to jump with their arms behind their backs.”
Following another game between Nantes and Troyes referee Jeremie Pignard appeared live with presenters on Amazon Prime Video to explain why he allowed a late equalising goal to stand after initially ruling it out for handball.
Both instances have been widely praised and there have been calls for the same to be introduced in English football.
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