WHAT HAPPENED?
According to The Times, the Premier League, troubled by VAR blunders, took a desperate step of involving British Airways pilots to enhance communication between the TV room officials and on-field referees. High-profile errors, notably the Luis Diaz incident when Liverpool met Spurs in September and the more recent Anthony Gordon goal against Arsenal, prompted the league authorities to undertake the surprise measure.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Pilots Chris Heaven and Pete Nataraj made a presentation which aimed to instill clarity in referee communication by discouraging informal talks and putting more emphasis on clear, focused dialogue. PGMOL have released a couple of VAR audio clips to remain transparent to fans which drew ire from various sections over the use of informal phrases such as “good process” and “cheers, mate” during reviews.
DID YOU KNOW?
Heaven and Nataraj also stressed the effectiveness of short communication processes and alluded to a pilot who is landing in a foreign territory with potential language barriers. They also urged officials to decide in advance about the information that they are going to pass on to further reduce confusion.
It is believed that the initiative was led by referees chief and former official Howard Webb as he remains adamant to further educating VAR officials so that errors are minimised.
WHAT NEXT FOR VAR?
The effectiveness of the pilot-led communication session remains to be seen as VAR officials will be under intense scrutiny with the Premier League resuming this weekend after the international break. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has already been charged by the FA after his “embarrassing” comments on VAR officials which the Spaniard has decided to contest. And further controversies over the weekend will only add to the league’s challenges.
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