The future of VAR is on the agenda as Premier League clubs meet for their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday morning.
All 20 top-flight clubs will meet to decide whether to abolish VAR after Wolves called for a vote to get rid of it.
Wolves have been on the end of several controversial refereeing decisions this season and believe the decision review system is “undermining the value of the Premier League brand”.
It is not expected that clubs will come close to receiving the 14 votes required to scrap it. The majority of clubs favour VAR but want improvements made to it.
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Premier League stats earlier this season showed correct decisions had increased from 82 to 96 per cent under VAR, with Tony Scholes, the Premier League’s chief football officer, telling Sky Sports in February: “VAR is, and remains, a very effective tool in supporting the match officials on the pitch.”
However, Scholes did also admit: “We are doing too many checks, we’re taking too long in doing them as well. It’s to a degree understandable, given the level of scrutiny these guys are under.
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Premier League managers have their say on the question of whether or not the league should stick with VAR
“But the reviews are taking too long and it’s affecting the flow of the game and we’re extremely aware of that and the need to improve that speed while always maintaining the accuracy.”
In Thursday’s meeting, PGMOL chief Howard Webb and Scholes will outline six areas in which they will seek to improve upon VAR moving forward this coming season.
What else is being discussed at the Premier League AGM?
New clubs sworn in: The first point on the agenda at the Premier League meeting is the newly promoted clubs – Leicester City, Ipswich and Southampton – will officially be confirmed as Premier League clubs.
All three will receive their single share, giving them an equal vote on all matters.
Anchoring to be introduced: Clubs will wave through plans for a new “anchoring” system to run in shadow in 2024/25.
What is ‘anchoring’?
In its purest and simple form, anchoring means all clubs would only be able to spend a maximum of the multiple of what the bottom club earns in TV revenue.
At the moment, the bottom club gets £103.6m. If the anchoring multiple, and this has been discussed, is going to be 4.5, then you would do £103.6m x 4.5, which results in £466m.
So £466m would be the spending cap in that instance. That is the maximum cap on what clubs would be allowed to spend on wages, amortised transfer fees and also agent fees.
The details are still to be ironed out, so the multiple may not necessarily be 4.5. This is what is being worked on at the moment.
There will be no punishment for any financial breach of this system within this period. However, clubs can still expect to be charged if they fall foul of the current Profit & Sustainability rules (PSR).
This shadow period will allow time for the system to be evaluated and for the PFA to be consulted. The PFA are concerned about a hard salary cap being introduced.
There will not be a vote on whether it will be fully introduced for the 2025/26 season at this stage.
Two PSR Votes: Two potential amendments to the current PSR rules for this coming campaign will be voted on but are unlikely to be approved by clubs.
First proposed amendment: Aston Villa wish to raise the upper threshold for permitted losses over a three-year period from £105m to £135m.Second proposed amendment: Crystal Palace have proposed an alternative amendment to raise the permitted lost limit.
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Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor has called for changes to the spending restrictions placed on Premier League clubs. (Video courtesy of Financial Times)
Palace’s idea is to alter PSR rules to allow clubs in Europe to claim the difference in UEFA coefficient funding between themselves and the top clubs in the division as allowable losses.
Current UEFA coefficient payments are based on a club’s last 10 years of performances in Europe and therefore benefit traditional elite clubs and disadvantage recent qualifiers – such as Villa.
Will Man City’s legal case against the Premier League be discussed?
As Sky Sports News reported on Wednesday, it is very unlikely Manchester City’s unprecedented legal challenge against the Premier League will be on the agenda.
However, it’s likely to be a hot topic of discussion among executives outside the formal meeting room.
Read more on Man City vs the Premier League…