Tony Scholes, the Premier League’s chief football officer, has admitted that the VAR system needs to be improved in the future, hinting at potential changes that could affect Manchester United and Manchester City.
Scholes admitted VAR decisions take too long and lead to a poor stadium experience for fans, but also admitted they have too much control. The Premier League boss’ comments come after the league admitted it could not confirm the introduction of semi-automatic offside technology next season.Despite VAR being a huge success in the Premier League and the number of correct decisions rising from 82% to 96%, Scholes admits there will be changes.
“VAR has been and continues to be a very effective tool to support match referees on the pitch, but it is clear that not everything is perfect in the world of VAR,” said Scholes. “We know that and we know we have work to do. I think there are two factors affecting VAR’s reputation. [The first] is the time required to complete the assessment or perform the inspection. We do so many tests that it takes too long.
“It’s understandable to a degree given the level of control these guys have, but it takes too long to review and it affects the flow of the game.“The second area where the VAR experience is poor is the stadium experience for fans. It is not enough. We know this is not true. “This is affecting fans’ enjoyment of the game and we know we need to change this.”Scholes also discussed the audio replay between the VAR and on-field officials, but admitted it was not at an official level.
He added: “There are limits to what you can do with the IFAB and it’s clear that the IFAB cannot use sound at the moment.” “My personal opinion is that we’ve gotten to a point where we’re playing both live video and audio and then playing it back to explain our decisions. “I don’t know how far we are from that.”
