Like it or not, VAR stays in the Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers tried, and they failed. In fact, they failed miserably. The Premier League club thought that a season-long injustice with VAR decisions could be prevented with a removal of the VAR decision in 2024/25, but in the end, every other club voted against it. So, it was 1-19 in the end, and VAR will stay on for the foreseeable future.

The Midlands club had accused VAR of "undermining the value of the Premier League brand" after another season of several debatable decisions. VAR was introduced in the Premier League in 2019 with the aim of helping referees avoid clear and obvious errors that had marred matches in the past. But there were numerous controversies surrounding the technology during the recently concluded 2023/24 campaign, with Premier League managers and fans growing increasingly vocal in their disdain for the system. Following Thursday's vote at the annual meeting, however, the Premier League acknowledged improvements were required.

"While VAR produces more accurate decision making, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of the game and supporters," the league said in a statement.

Premier League season without VAR - what if...?

BBC had a chance to look at the document 'VAR Improvement Plan', written by chief football officer Tony Scholes, and there was, among other things, a section which dealt with the impact on the league if VAR was to be scrapped altogether. Some "match-defining" decisions from on-field referees which were incorrect would not be overturned should VAR be absent, the documents state. Also, scrapping VAR would result in fewer interruptions and delays to the game, but "significantly more officiating errors would be made (around 100 per season), including highly contentious match-deciding incidents, potentially in critically important matches."

Clubs are against Wolves’ proposal to scrap VAR

The league also emphasizes that there were only five incorrect VAR interventions last season, compared to 105 correct calls. This is an improvement on 2022-23 when the league says there were 11 wrong VAR decisions, 105 of which were right. Other reasons for keeping VAR were that the Premier League is "contractually committed to significant operating cost elements of VAR for the next three years", but also the fact that all other European leagues still have VAR and this potential decision would damage the league’s reputation. Also, improvements will be made from the next season.

"While VAR produces more accurate decision making, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of the game and supporters" the league said in a statement. Semi-automated offside technology is set to be introduced next season in the hope this will reduce the length of time needed for offside checks, while in-stadium announcements will be made where an on-field decision is changed following a VAR intervention to keep fans at stadiums informed.