Why the new VAR changes are great for the Premier League

The Premier League have announced that conversations for VAR referees when making decisions in matches will be broadcasted to fans.

This is a huge shift for the Premier League to increase accountability for referees and to help fans, coaches, and players alike understand vital, game-changing decisions when they’re made.

Back in February, I was calling for this kind of transparency in refereeing comparing it specifically to the XFL.

The XFL brought a lot of rule changes outside of the normal NFL way of doing things which were generally positively executed and received by fans – the biggest one being able to hear the conversation in the instant replay booth.

Being able to hear why a call was made and what the ref’s decision-making process is will likely increase understanding and will help build trust in officials.

There were countless times last season where fans would be asking themselves what on earth the ref was thinking. A change like this is going to be massive for transparency and understanding. Gabriel Martinelli’s double yellow card at Molineux last season was a decision that I would’ve loved to have heard explained in real-time by Michael Oliver because without it we were left pretty dumbfounded. An explanation can lighten the blow.

Obviously, there is a long way to go in terms of refereeing in the Premier League. There are countless bad and inconsistent decisions made every week across the division. Implementing this along with more changes such as post-match interviews for referees will go a long way to creating transparency and harbouring a relationship between officials and supporters.

Way too many treat the men in black as robots.

A step forward is still a step forward and this is an important choice by the Premier League to increase accountability for referees and peel back the curtain to understand why decisions are made.