Premier League. Live broadcast of VAR decisions under investigation, says the FA

Live telecasting of exchanges before VAR decisions, video assistance for referee work, are being studied, according to the director general of the English association, Mark Bullingham.

The English Premier League was marred by the recent decision by VAR which wrongly disallowed a goal from Liverpool player Luis Diaz for non-existent offside. The Reds lost 2-1 on September 30 at Tottenham in London.

An announcement following a VAR error in the Premier League

After the match, the Association of Professional English Football Referees (PGMOL) recognized “a clear and obvious factual error which should have resulted in the goal being awarded through the intervention of VAR, but it did not intervene”.

The error came from poor communication between the VAR operator and the referee, and the voices were raised so that, like rugby, the exchange between the video assistant and the pitch was broadcast live, which is currently prohibited. But Mark Bullingham, who is also a board member of the IFAB, the guardian of the game’s laws which has the power to change the rules, said the organization had raised the issue.

“Usually there is a divide during meetings on this topic. And quite often between people responsible for marketing, sales and judges. »

A step in the right direction

“Our point of view, in terms of marketing and commerce, is that transparency is normally a very good thing and we want the fans to be informed as much as possible.”, he continued. Mark Bullingham also felt that the attempt by FIFA to get referees to announce and explain their decision was “a step in the right direction”.

“The issue of broadcasting decisions live will continue to come up because the greater transparency will show how difficult the job of refereeing is, and this has worked in other sports.”he developed.

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– But there is an understandable nervousness among others who think the referee’s job is difficult enough. In a tournament, there are judges who speak several languages, so it is not as simple as some suggest.he continued.

“So I think we are taking a step in the right direction by announcing our decision and explaining why it was made. Let’s see if this will allow us to move forward”he concluded.