All But One Premier League Club Voted Against Scrapping VAR

On Thursday, Premier League clubs voted 19 to 1 against the proposals to remove VAR technology.

In May, Wolves proposed a motion to scrap the Video Assistant Referee system in its current form after experiencing a series of unfair decisions during the recent Premier League season.

To scrap VAR, at least 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs needed to vote in favor.

Nearly all Premier League teams were baffled by the perceived mishandling of the technology, as numerous significant mistakes gathered attention in the news.

In a statement, the league said: “Premier League clubs today voted in favor of continuing to operate VAR in the Premier League.

“While VAR produces more accurate decision making, it was agreed that improvements should be made for the benefit of the game and supporters.”

“As part of thorough discussions at the Annual General Meeting, it was agreed that PGMOL, the Premier League, and clubs all have important roles to play in improving the system and its reputation.”

“As part of ongoing work to improve VAR, six key areas were focused on as part of discussions with clubs.”

Arguably the highest profile example of VAR’s failure was Luis Diaz’s “ghost goal” that was chalked off against Tottenham in October a goal that was incorrectly ruled out for offside amid a breakdown in communication between officials and prompted the club to demand a “review with full transparency” from the Premier League.

Several other incidents occurred during the season, prompting Wolves manager Gary O’Neil to criticize the system in November.

His frustration arose from three incorrect VAR decisions made against his team during a match against Fulham. “I’ve always been for VAR, but I think it’s causing a big problem at the moment.”

“I’m managing a big football club here the difference you’re making to my reputation, the club’s progression up the league, people’s livelihoods is huge.” He said.

“It can’t be with all the technology, in the best league in the world, it can’t be OK. We should discuss the game really but unfortunately, we have to discuss this.”

However, clubs seem to be more inclined towards demanding significant improvements and changes to the existing system rather than completely discarding it.

The league states that VAR has increased the accuracy of correct decisions from 82 percent before its implementation to 96 percent in the past season.

However, Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters Association, told BBC Sport that “most fans agree with Wolves.”

“The support for the introduction of VAR originally has collapsed and 80 percent of fans now say the experience is poor or very poor, so we cannot go on with this as we are,” he said.

“Most of our members think the price of spoiling the match experience is not a price worth paying for a small increase in accurate decisions,” he added.

“It’s good Wolves have tabled this, it has been a catalyst for a real debate and whatever happens debate must continue.”