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Topics: Premier League, VAR, Football, Football News
Alex Brotherton
Premier League managers have blocked a huge VAR change that would have delighted many fans.
After three long months, the Premier League returns on Friday with Manchester United hosting Fulham at Old Trafford.
Though there has been plenty of football and other sporting action for fans to get their teeth into over the summer, there is nothing that quite matches the entertainment of the Premier League.
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However, the return of the English top flight also likely means the return of endless VAR chat and controversy.
After Wolves led a failed bid to get VAR scrapped, a number of changes have been made for its sixth season in use in the Premier League.
There will be greater emphasis than ever on sticking with the referee's original decision on subjective issues, preventing VAR from re-refereeing games.
The introduction of semi-automated offside technology will be introduced in the coming months to bring an end to long waits over fractional offside calls.
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However, Premier League managers blocked one VAR change that many fans would have been delighted with.
According to The Telegraph, managers blocked a proposal for referees to announce VAR decisions live on-mic to fans in the stadium, as was seen in the Women's World Cup in 2023 and the Olympics this summer.
In early July, Premier League coaches were invited to the annual private briefing with referee chief Howard Webb and Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes.
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The managers expressed their concern that explaining VAR decisions to match-going fans would add even more time to the VAR process, which they want to see sped up.
Referees had been told that they would be expected to announce decision live to crowds this season, but it was not a popular proposal among PGMOL select group one officials.
The Premier League has listened to that opposition, as the proposal was not included in new VAR measures announced on Wednesday.
Instead of referee announcements, there will be more on-screen messaging and replays of incidents where relevant, while live explanations will be provided on social media for fans not at the stadium.
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Earlier this week Scholes told the BBC that the Premier League "don’t want to put additional pressure on the referees."