Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Referees to announce pitchside monitor review calls in top flight next season
Referee Stuart Attwell checks the pitchside VAR monitor after showing a red card to Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech before overturning it during the Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, February 26, 2023

REFEREES will announce the outcome of all decisions reviewed on pitchside monitors in the Premier League next season, the PA news agency reported today.

The move by the English top flight follows an initial trial at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and further testing in last season’s FA Cup, League Cup and EFL play-off finals.

The move is designed to provide further information to fans inside stadiums and to television viewers, with top-flight managers and clubs understood being informed about this and other law changes at ongoing meetings ahead of the new season.

It is understood the Premier League approach will differ slightly from last season’s domestic cup trials because factual onside and offside decisions will not be announced.

Whenever a VAR recommends the on-field official should review the decision, an announcement will be made regardless of whether the referee sticks with the original decision, or chooses to overturn it.

PA understands the announcements are set to begin with the words “after review,” before going on to provide explanation and ending with the final outcome.

The two-way discussion between referees and VARs will still not be available, as the game’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) does not permit this. However, the on-field announcements of final decisions are a further step towards transparency, a key goal of Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

The news comes after the total of VAR errors for last season was down to 18, from 31 the season before. Errors are defined as matters where, in the view of the independent Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel, VARs overturned a correct on-field decision or failed to intervene to overturn an incorrect on-field decision.

There were 35 such errors in the 2022-23 season.

The average VAR delay per match last season was 39 seconds, down from 64 in the 2023-24 season. That figure could drop further with a full season of semi-automated offside technology in use.

The Premier League has been approached for comment.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain celebrates after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, October 5, 2025
Formula One / 5 October 2025
5 October 2025

Tensions boil at McLaren after lap-one collision between Norris and Piastri

Liverpool manager Gareth Taylor watches from the stands during the Barclays Women's Super League match at Anfield, Liverpool, September 7, 2025
Women’s Football / 5 October 2025
5 October 2025
England's Amy Cokayne celebrates scoring a try during the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 semi-final match at Ashton Gate, Bristol. Picture date: Saturday September 20, 2025
Women’s Rugby Union / 26 September 2025
26 September 2025
People protest the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech racing team during the Montreal Grand Prix cycling race in Montreal, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025
Men’s cycling / 26 September 2025
26 September 2025