English football referees will announce video assistant referee (VAR) decisions over stadium public tannoy systems during this season’s EFL Cup seni-finals.
This falls within the scope of a trial being conducted by the English Football League (EFL), which runs the EFL Cup, referred to as the Carboa Cup for sponsorship purposes.
The referees final decision will be announced over the tannoy, with the wider VAR decision making processes remaining closed off. The EFL states that the trail forms part of a transparency initiative it is engaged with alongside the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB).
“The new pilot forms part of PGMOL’s broader commitment to transparency and embracing technological advancements for the benefit of Match Officials and fans,” the EFL’s statement read.
“This latest pilot has the support of the EFL and follows earlier collaboration with PGMOL in 2018 to trial VAR in EFL competitions ahead of its introduction in the Premier League.”
Referee announcement of VAR decisions is not an uncommon practice, occurring in American football, which was one of the first adopters of VAR technology and rugby union which allows captains to appeal decisions via VAR.
The EFL has noted the use of this practice in FIFA-sanctioned football competitions including the 2023 Women’s World Cup. It hopes that the practice will provide greater clarity around VAR decisions to supporters, many of whom have not received VAR well.
The tech was first introduced to English football in the 2018/19 Premier League season. It has been criticised by some segments of supporters in the years since, however, for holding up gameplay and interfering with the fan experience.
Premier League clubs opted to retain VAR in a vote earlier this year. However, the league did also pledge to make improvements to the tech, and would later task Genius Sports, who already function as the league’s data partner, to introduce a semi-automated offside functionality to VAR.
The EFl’s trial of referee VAR announcements will take place during both legs of the two EFL Cup semi-final matches of Arsenal v Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool to be played in January and February.
