REFS’ chief Howard Webb believes Prem whistlers HAVE got better this season — and he has stats to prove it.
The first two months of this campaign have seen more moans and even allegations of bias from fans and managers.
So far, there have been 15 on-field decisions overturned by VAR — the same number as at this stage last term.
But only five of those have seen refs’ rulings changed, compared to nine after the first 70 games in 2023-24.
Part of that is a switch to “referee’s call”, meaning there must be clear evidence of a mistake for VAR to intervene.
Yet Webb also pointed to the verdicts of the Prem’s Key Match Incidents panel of former players, managers and referees.
The PGMOL boss told Sky Bet’s Stick to Football podcast: “We didn’t manage expectations well over VAR.
“It was always going to be [the case that] it did well on situations when you think, ‘That’s clearly wrong on first view’.
“We have this panel now with ex-players on it and they judge each decision each week.
“According to the panel, there have only been two VAR errors this season, compared to ten at the same time last year. We’re not complacent but it’s better.”
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Those errors were disallowing Dango Ouattara’s “winner” for Bournemouth against Newcastle for a handball — and Bruno Fernandes’ red against Spurs.
SunSport analysis shows VAR has had little impact on the table. We looked at the “result” of every match if the original call, before VAR intervention, stood.
The only big change sees Bournemouth go up to sixth from 13th.
Newcastle, Brighton and Fulham would have two fewer points, while Wolves while Wolves move off the bottom on goals scored.
