Premier League plan two huge rule changes for referees next season ahead of vote to scrap VAR

The Premier League could reportedly introduce two huge rule changes for referees ahead of the vote on the future of VAR.

The Video Assistant Referee(VAR) was first brought in at the start of the 19/20 Premier League season.

Since then, the technology has been one of the major talking points as players, managers and fans have all expressed their frustrations regarding VAR.

This season, VAR was the centre of attention on multiple occasions, including a huge howler when Liverpool star Luis Diaz was denied a goal after being wrongly ruled out for offside.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Premier League clubs will vote on a plan to scrap VAR from the start of next season.

Now, it has been claimed that the Premier League could bring in two major officiating changes for the near future.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the English top flight will ‘support a swift introduction of in-stadium VAR communication amid pressure from clubs to improve refereeing standard’.

In addition, it is said that a number of Premier League clubs believe that the competition will widen their referees pool in order to allow some of Europe’s top officials to take charge of matches in England.

Getty

However, the report stated: “The PGMOL believe their stable of officials are among the best in Europe.”

The Premier League will also introduce semi-automatic offsides at some point next season, which is likely to cut down the amount of time taken on close calls.

During his last pre-match press conference as the Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp was asked about the upcoming vote on VAR.

He said: “I don't think they're [the club] voting against VAR, I think they'll vote about how it gets used, because that's definitely not right.

“In the way they do it, I would vote against it, because these people are not able to use it properly.”

Klopp added: “I do not think VAR is the problem, but the way we use it is the problem. So, you cannot change the people obviously, it's clear. You need them.

“So yes, I would vote for scrapping VAR.”