VAR could have new powers in next season’s Premier League after football’s legislative body IFAB gave the green light to an expansion plan to be unveiled at the World Cup.
VAR could be used in corners next season (Image: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
The Premier League is planning to consult clubs on whether to allow VAR to be used to judge corner kicks from next season.
The sport’s legislative body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), has given competitions the option of allowing corner kicks to be checked from this summer onwards, provided they do not cause a delay in the start of the kick.
The option is being considered ahead of this summer’s North American World Cup, but the Premier League has yet to make a decision on whether to introduce the change next season.
Clubs were briefed on the legal changes by the league’s director of football, Tony Scholes, at a meeting on Thursday, and the Press Association understands that a questionnaire will be sent to clubs asking for their views.
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Meanwhile, UEFA plans to unite the Premier League and other top European divisions this summer in a bid to find common ground on VAR.
The Press Association understands that there is a determination within UEFA to reach a consensus on how to interpret the VAR protocol and that efforts to find a more unified approach for next season will be discussed after this summer’s World Cup.
UEFA’s head of referees, Roberto Rossetti, told a press conference in Brussels last month that VAR risked becoming too “micro”, straying from its original mission of correcting obvious mistakes.
Corners are not currently part of VAR’s remit (Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
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“I think we need to talk about this at the end of the season, because we can’t go in the direction of microscopic VAR intervention,” Rosetti said. “We love soccer the way it is.”
Regarding handball, an example of different interpretations, Rosetti added, “In Europe, we believe that we have to speak only one specialized language. For us, this is the goal. We cannot speak different specialized languages throughout Europe. That is not good.”
“There’s only one technical interpretation needed. We’ve talked a lot. We talked a lot before the season and we need to talk again.”
As of February 13, the Premier League outperformed the Champions League in the average number of on-field reviews per match, with 0.15 this season compared to 0.36 in Europe’s top competition.
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