New VAR rules in Premier League 2024/25: Howard Webb's six-point plan to improve divisional technology explained

The new Premier League season kicks off with the PGMOL desperate for VAR not to overshadow all of the weekend's action.

Video Assistant Referee The technology is entering its sixth season in the top flight, but is under more scrutiny than ever.

The use of VAR It has been hugely divisive since its introduction in 2019, with Wolves even calling for a Vote to remove it in 2024/25.

Although Gary O'Neil's team lost 19-1The PGMOL confirmed that improvements will be made to the system for the new season.

The Premier League has said fans can expect quicker decisions, fewer VAR interventions and greater clarity around the involvement of technology.

What are the new VAR rules?

Chief referee Howard Webb and Premier League director of football Tony Scholes have drawn up a six-point plan to improve VAR.

The biggest change is the introduction of an “umpire's call” approach, similar to cricket's “umpire's call”, which reaffirms a higher standard for intervention.

“Clear and obvious” remains the key test, with the Premier League revealing there were 31 incorrect uses of VAR last season and 105 correct ones.

As part of its plans to reduce delays, Semi-automatic offside which were valued favorably in Euro 2024 will be Introduced in autumn.

A single VAR check took 64 seconds last season, with the semi-automated technology said to make decisions on average 31 seconds faster.

The six-point plan is as follows…

• Improve the clarity of the threshold for VAR intervention.
• Reduce delays.
• Improve the fan experience.
• Improve VAR training and consistency.
• Increase transparency.
• Higher education and communications plan.

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More replays of key incidents will be shown on giant screens inside stadiums this season and there will be greater use of social media.

The league has unveiled its new Premier League Match Centre account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which will publish “near-live” explanations of VAR decisions.

However, he reiterated that referees will not announce decisions over the microphone to avoid putting additional pressure on officials.

To that end, Premier League officials have been encouraged to stop publicly criticising VAR in their post-match press conferences.

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