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Last April, the English Premier League clubs voted unanimously to reject the use of the Video Assistant Referee for the 2018-19 season. Less than a year later, they’re already seeing the folly of their ways.
The 20 Premier League clubs agreed in principle to the use of VAR starting in the 2019-20 season at a shareholder’s meeting on Thursday. However, the league will continue testing VAR throughout the remainder of the current season.
Premier League clubs have agreed in principle to introduce Video Assistant Referees (VAR) to the competition in the 2019/20 season
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 15, 2018
This is great news for anyone who likes referees to get calls right, a group that apparently didn’t include most of England until recently. We here at The18 are admittedly biased toward the truth and getting things right, so we love the idea of Premier League VAR.
The Premier League joins countless other leagues that have VAR, including MLS, Bundesliga, Serie A, LaLiga and, recently in trial form, Liga MX.
So what’s changed in the last six months that the EPL clubs changed their minds on VAR? For starters, the World Cup showed successful implementation of VAR, and with plenty of Englishmen believing the Three Lions would bring football home, the country actually witnessed what the rest of the world has long known: VAR is the future and the future is now.
Plus, every other major soccer league has VAR now and presumably the Premier League didn’t want to get left behind. If any league in the world can afford to pay for VAR, it’s the Premier League.
Just this past weekend, Charlie Austin blasted the lack of VAR after the Southampton striker had a goal disallowed (though you could argue VAR might have still disallowed it given Maya Yoshida’s proximity to the ball when he was whistled for offside).
"They cost us two points today! It's a joke!"
Charlie Austin was fuuuuming after Southampton's draw with Watford. pic.twitter.com/A1Km1jz92u— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) November 12, 2018
Premier League VAR still must be given approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) before it can be officially instated, but given IFAB’s eagerness to allow VAR, it’s unlikely they would cause any hold-up in England.
Unfortunately, fans of the most popular league in the world will still have to put up with the rest of the season without VAR. In contrast, the Champions League has been considering adding VAR before the end of the season. Let’s just hope no major gaffes affect the final standings come May (even though we know they will).
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