Live broadcast on television of exchanges prior to VAR decisions, video assistance to refereeing, is being studied, according to the general director of the English Federation, Mark Bullingham.
The English Premier League was marked by the recent VAR decision which mistakenly disallowed a goal from Liverpool player Luis Diaz for non-existent offside. The Reds lost 2-1 on September 30 at Tottenham in London.
After the match, the Association of Professional English Football Referees (PGMOL) recognized “a clear and obvious factual error which should have resulted in the award of the goal through the intervention of the VAR, but this was not intervened”.
The error came from poor communication between the VAR operator and the referee, and voices were raised so that, like rugby, the exchanges between the video assistance and the field were broadcast live, which is currently prohibited.
But Mark Bullingham, who is also a board member of the IFAB, the guardian of the laws of the game which has the power to change the rules, said the organization had raised the subject.
“Typically there is a divide in meetings about this,” he said. “And quite often between the people in charge of marketing, sales, and the referees.”
“Our point of view, in terms of marketing and commerce, is that normally transparency is a very good thing and we want fans to be informed as much as possible,” he continued.
Mark Bullingham also said that the trial carried out by Fifa to have referees announce and explain their decision was “a step in the right direction”.
“The question of live broadcasting of decisions will continue to arise because the greater transparency will show how difficult the work of referees is, and this has worked in other sports,” he explained.
“But there is an understandable nervousness among other people who think the referee’s job is difficult enough. In a tournament there are referees who speak several languages, so it is not as simple as some people suggest,” he continued.
“So I think we are taking a step in the right direction by announcing our decision and explaining why it was made. Let’s see if this will allow us to progress,” he concluded.