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Howard Webb is to appoint a team of new coaches and VAR specialists to help improve standards further, with the frequency of errors markedly reduced since he came in as the Premier League‘s chief refereeing officer.
Stats collated by the five-man Independent Key Match Incidents Panel — made up of three former players and one representative appointed by the Premier League and PGMOL, the body which controls refereeing in England — show that the total number of VAR-related errors dropped from 18 in the first part of the season to 12.
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Incorrect interventions — when the VAR has erred in telling the referee he has made a mistake — have dropped by a third, to one every 37.5 games from one every 24.3 games.
The number of missed interventions — when the VAR should have stepped in but didn’t — have almost halved from 12 to 7, to one every 21.4 games rather than one every 12.2 games.
The panel reported:
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83 correct interventions during 2022-23 season so far
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33.3% fewer incorrect interventions, in more games, since the return after the World Cup — 4, compared to 6 pre-World Cup
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Missed interventions down from 12 to 7
All key match incidents are assessed on a week-to-week basis by the panel, but stats alone only tell part of the story. Players, coaches and fans are often left frustrated by a perceived lack of decision-making.
Webb believes that good officiating starts on field, and wants to reduce the number of errors as much as possible with subjective decisions. However, Webb will have to balance admitting mistakes with managing expectations.
Earlier this month, Brighton & Hove Albion felt they had been on the wrong end of five VAR decisions in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur; ESPN sources have said that the panel concluded only one was incorrect in the VAR hub.
Webb conceded after the game that Karou Mitoma should have been awarded a spot kick after he was tripped by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but the VAR, Michael Salisbury, took no action.
But the independent panel said the decision not to award a penalty for a shirt pull by Clement Lenglet on Lewis Dunk wasn’t a clear and obvious error, and there was insufficient evidence for the VAR to award Mitoma’s goal after it was ruled out for handball. Both, however, should have been given by the referee, Stuart Attwell.
The panel agreed with the VAR intervention to rule out Alexis Mac Allister‘s goal for handball, while agreed there was no handball offence by Lenglet in the first half.
Similarly, the panel ruled that the Marcus Rashford onside decision in the Manchester derby, and allowing Bruno Fernandes‘ goal, was not incorrect in law by either the referee or the VAR — though it did note that offside would have been a better decision on the field.
It shows that while stats might be improving, Webb and the rest of the management team face a battle to win the war of hearts and minds where VAR is concerned.
Webb has already taken clear action to improve standards, with the only two full-time VARs in the Premier League no longer officiating games.
Lee Mason left his role by mutual consent in February after the latest in a series of high-profile errors saw him miss a player in an offside position for Brentford‘s equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Feb. 11.
Since that same weekend Mike Dean hasn’t been given another VAR appointment, with ESPN sources saying performance levels have been an issue, and while he remains on the roster of VAR officials it seems certain he will depart in the summer.
Webb now wants a pool of VAR specialists to enhance the overall performance, though this may take time to implement.
The role will be open to all referees throughout the English game, from Premier League level down to League 2, and could see officials specializing in VAR or taking on a dual role with their on-pitch duties.
Webb wants to make sure the referees who go on to take VAR roles are proficient, and not using it as just a stepping stone after retirement. Anyone who wants to become a VAR will be put through a rigorous assessment process.
Martin Atkinson is currently the only coach assigned to Select Group 1, the list of referees who take charge of games in the Premier League. Additional coaches are to be appointed to improve training and mentorship at the elite level and enhance the Elite Referee Development Plan, set up to revamp officiating in England.
Former Premier League assistant referee Adam Gale-Watts will become PGMOL’s new technical director, responsible for integrating coaching and training strategies; Jon Moss will replace Gale-Watts as the Select Group director, managing and delivering the performance of Select Group 1 and 2 (PL & Championship) match officials.
Trials of semi-automated offside technology are being carried out, which would see the Premier League adopt the same system has used in UEFA competition, but this is unlikely to be implemented until the start of the 2024-25 season.
