Referees to announce VAR decisions to fans in semi-finals

Referees will announce any video assistant referee decisions to football supporters inside stadiums in England for the first time during the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

As part of a trial, referees will announce final decisions following a visit to the VAR pitchside monitor or when rulings are made on factual matters such as accidental handball by a goalscorer or offside offences where the attacker touches the ball.

Such announcements are common in other sports such as rugby union and American football and the system was trialled during the 2023 Women's World Cup.

The Premier League said in a meeting last summer that in-game VAR announcements would be put in place at some point this season.

Both legs in each of the cup semi-finals - Arsenal v Newcastle and Tottenham v Liverpool - will be included in the trial.

The first legs in the EFL-run competition will be played on 7 and 8 January 2025, with the return fixtures on 5 and 6 February.

Refereeing authority PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) says the move is part of its "commitment to transparency" and hopes it will provide greater clarity and understanding around key decisions.

Referees have been preparing for the in-stadium announcements at training camps and have practised at stadiums already. The officials for the matches will be announced on Tuesday.

The Premier League Match Centre account on X has posted "near-live" explanations of VAR decisions this season, but this will be the first time spoken announcements have been given to crowds, if there are any such calls to make.

The EFL said in a statement: "The new pilot embraces technological advancements for the benefit of match officials and fans.

"This latest pilot has the support of the EFL and follows earlier collaboration with PGMOL in 2018 to trial VAR in EFL competitions ahead of its introduction in the Premier League."

This is a first for English football but we do have a template for this trial, which suggests expectations should be kept to a minimum.

There will be no real-time cricket-style audio of discussions taking place in the VAR booth. There will be no explanations of what was in the referee's mind when he made a decision, and what was in the VAR's when they requested a review.

If matches taking place in Fifa competitions that initially trialled this system are any guide, what we will get is the referee explaining what the decision is, which we would obviously get to know pretty quickly anyway.

PGMOL head of refereeing Howard Webb would like to go further but is bound by the game's worldwide rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which has shown no real appetite for trialling real-time audio.

One day, maybe many years from now, it will come. This is an important first step.