PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs have accepted there have been six game-changing “wrong” VAR decisions in the first half of the season.
New refs’ boss Howard Webb’s reign begins with the Boxing Day fixtures and the former World Cup Final whistler is understood to be determined to make clubs, managers, players and fans feel more convinced by the effectiveness of the technology.
Gabriel Martinelli had a goal wrong disallowed at Old TraffordGetty
Cristian Romero should have been penalised for a hair pull on Marc CucurellaNot known, clear with picture desk
That will see a push to ensure there are fewer VAR interventions when the on-field decision is not “clearly and obviously” wrong.
Among the six shockers accepted by the Prem hierarchy was Gabriel Martinelli’s disallowed goal for Arsenal against Manchester United.
The Brazilian’s goal was chalked off after referee Paul Tierney consulted the VAR monitor and wrongly decided Martin Odegaard had fouled Christian Eriksen in the build-up.
Another mistake was West Ham’s disallowed “equaliser” against Chelsea and the decision to rule out the own goal by Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell at Newcastle.
The new “key match incident panel”, including three former players and representatives from the Prem and PGMOL believes that 42 interventions were correct but that there were six incidents when the on-field decision should have been changed.
That included the failure to dismiss Tottenham defender Cristian Romero for hair-pulling directly before Harry Kane’s equaliser at Chelsea and the spot-kick Spurs should have been awarded for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shove on Ryan Sessegnon in the defeat by Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Prem chiefs have applied to football’s Law-makers the International FA Board for permission to conduct a trial of temporary concussion substitutes next season.
The Prem, Ligue 1 in France and the MLS want to undertake the trial.
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But there remains doubt over whether Ifab will grant approval as the Zurich-based body feels that there is too much of a risk in players being prematurely sent back onto the field after a rushed examination.
There will not be a replication of the extended injury time process shown in the World Cup when the Prem resumes as League chiefs believe they must be consistent over the rest of the season.
That extra time could come into effect next season depending on consultations.
Meanwhile Prem bosses have yet to decide whether to introduce Fifa’s groundbreaking semi-automated offside technology for next season.
One issue is likely to be that the chip-in-ball technology used in Qatar is licensed to Adidas whereas Premier League balls are manufactured by Nike.