ANDOn August 13, the Premier League kicks off and it does so with important news when it comes to video refereeing. After the experience lived last season, in which the application of the VAR did not make players, coaches or fans happy, The Premier has approved making several changes with which it intends to avoid a repetition of the controversies raised in the 2020-21 campaign.
Mike Riley, chief referee of the Premier League, was in charge of explaining the new features that will be applied from now on and that are summarized in three aspects. Marginal offside, offside assistants and in-area fouls
Marginal offside
“We have effectively reintroduced the benefit of the doubt to the attacking player,” says Mike Riley. “So in a really close offside situation we followed the same processes that we did last year with VAR. We applied the lines of a pixel, placing the defense line and then the attack line. Then we placed the transmission lines thicker and where they overlap, those situations will now be considered as onside. So effectively, what we give back to the game are 20 goals that were canceled last season. “
We have effectively reintroduced the benefit of the doubt to the attacking player
There will also be a difference in the way VAR decisions about potential offside will be conveyed to viewers.. In the first two seasons of VAR, the Premier League showed the entire VAR process by determining the offside call to broadcasters, which they were able to share with viewers. For 2021/22, all that will be shared with viewers is the final image confirming the offside or offside decision.
assistant referees
As part of the VAR process last season, Premier League assistant referees were slow to raise their flags when an immediate scoring opportunity was likely to occur, even if they thought there had been an offside. Once a goal had been scored or the opportunity was gone, only then would the attendees raise their flags to indicate the initial violation. This allows the VAR to check if the attacker was in the correct position and then a goal could be awarded.
For this season, the assistant referees will raise the threshold of what constitutes an immediate and obvious scoring opportunity. For example, an attacking player who receives the ball from an offside position by the wing will now be flagged as offside by the assistant, without waiting for the action to end.
Some small contacts are simply not faults; they are part of the game
Fouls within the area
From this season, the Premier League referees will be more demanding when decreeing a penalty. Not all contacts will be punished with the maximum penalty.
“The experience we’ve had in recent seasons is that the Premier League is about a compelling and competitive contact,” says Riley. “We have lost a bit of that contact sport, probably because of the VAR intervention. The experience of the Euro has shown that people will appreciate it if you allow the game to flow, if you accept that some small contacts are simply not fouls; they are part of it. of the game.
The referees will have to answer three questions before awarding a penalty.: Is there a clear and adequate contact? Does this contact have a consequence? Does it cause someone to fall or is the motivation of the player to use that little contact to fall to the ground? “So if you have clear contact with clear consequences, that’s what you penalize, but leave the little things alone, on the field and in the VAR Hub,” concludes Mike Riley.