THE Premier League is “in denial” about fans’ concerns around VAR, the Football Supporters Association (FSA) has said.
An independent survey commissioned by the league has found that 77 per cent — almost four in five — of those questioned support keeping VAR with improvements to the way it is used, in stark contrast to an FSA survey of almost 10,000 supporters from last summer.
That survey found almost two-thirds (63.3 per cent) wanted to scrap the use of the technology, and only one in 20 who had experienced VAR in stadiums rated their experience of it as good or very good.
Since then, Wolves were unsuccessful in an effort to have VAR voted out of existence in the English top flight at the clubs’ annual general meeting in June.
On Wednesday, the FSA questioned the Premier League’s research, which was referenced by its chief football officer Tony Scholes in an interview earlier in the week.
A post on the FSA’s official X account read: “Four out of five fans want to keep VAR? Can we see this ‘independent study’ that, as far as we can gather, no-one knows about or has been given access to?
“All of our work on VAR since its introduction into English football has shown it is deeply, deeply unpopular with match-going fans.
“Supporters’ concerns about VAR and its impact on the matchday experience have to be taken seriously — statements like this, that make the PL appear to be in denial, aren’t helpful.”
The survey by Yonder Consulting on behalf of the league was based on the views of 1,315 people described as “Premier League followers” and 340 “fan attenders.” Even in this group, one in five wanted the system scrapped.
The Premier League is understood to conduct numerous such surveys across a season and its policy is not to publish the findings, but executives within the league indicated they would be prepared to meet with the FSA to share its data and discuss the apparent discrepancies.
The league engages in regular, structured dialogue on a range of topics with the FSA.
The league has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining a high bar for VAR interventions this season and wants to use the “referees’ call” principle, where subjective on-field decisions are only overturned by VARs where, in their professional opinion, there is a clear and obvious error.
Premier League bosses and referees’ chief Howard Webb want to continue improving communication to fans.
Screen shots and graphics explaining why a goal has been overturned will continue to be displayed on big screens, but in addition this season they will also show all goals disallowed on the field after the VAR has confirmed a check is complete, and also goals which stand but where the restart has been delayed while an incident was being checked.
It has also launched an X account, @PLMatchCentre, which will provide in-match, near-live VAR clarifications on key incidents once reviews are complete.
In-game referee announcements, as seen at last year’s Women’s World Cup, could be piloted within the English game at some stage but the league believes referees already have enough changes to contend with heading into the new campaign, and that bringing in these announcements now could create extra pressure and additional delays.
Semi-automated offside technology has been approved in principle by clubs and is set to be introduced at some stage in the autumn, and the league think this could reduce the length of the average check by 31 seconds.
League representatives have also been liaising with players and coaches over the summer to talk about VAR, and crucially what it can and cannot do.
