Premier League clubs have voted against the full-on introduction of video assistant referees (VAR) in the top flight for next season.
VAR has so far proved to be more trouble than it’s worth, with the referral system creating issues and hold-ups as well as failing to carry out the one task it was developed to do.
Instead, the Premier League themselves have announced they plan to continue running “further advanced tests” in the FA Cup and the League Cup to iron out what they call “communication problems” with the VAR procedure.
Premier League Clubs have agreed to continue advanced testing of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) throughout Season 2018/19: https://t.co/SUbZPVCrxo pic.twitter.com/1cqxXeGP1F
— Premier League Communications (@PLComms) April 13, 2018
The good news is that FIFA have already confirmed that VAR will be used at the upcoming 2018 World Cup despite many of the referees and officials involved having zero real-game experience of using it heading into the tournament.
In short, it’s likely to get messy – which is either thoroughly entertaining or utterly exasperating, depending on how you choose to (re)view it.