New Premier League VAR rules 2024/25: Howard Webb’s six-point plan to improve divisive technology explained

The new Premier League season gets underway with the PGMOL desperate for VAR not to overshadow all of the weekend's action.

Video Assistant Referee technology enters its sixth season in the top-flight but is under more scrutiny than ever.

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The use of VAR has been highly divisive since its introduction in 2019, with Wolves even calling for a vote for it to be removed in 2024/25.

Although Gary O'Neil's side lost 19-1, the PGMOL confirmed improvements would be made to the system for the new season.

The Premier League have stated that fans can expect quicker decisions, fewer VAR interventions and greater clarity around the technology's involvement.

What are the new VAR rules?

Referees chief Howard Webb and Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes have formed a six-point plan to improve VAR.

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The biggest change is the introduction of a 'Referee's Call' approach - similar to cricket's 'Umpire's Call' - that reaffirms a higher bar for intervention.

'Clear and obvious' remains the key test, with the Premier League revealing there were 31 incorrect uses of VAR last season and 105 correct.

As part of their plans to reduce delays, semi-automated offsides that were rated favourably at Euro 2024 will be introduced in the autumn.

A single VAR check lasted 64 seconds last campaign, with semi-automated tech said to make decisions on average 31 seconds quicker.

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The six-point plan is as follows...

• Improve the clarity of threshold for VAR intervention.
• Reduce delays.
• Upgrade the fan experience.
• Improve VAR training and consistency.
• Increase transparency.
• Superior education and communications plan.

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More replays of key incidents will be shown on big screens inside stadiums this season as well as better use of social media.

The league has introduced their new Premier League Match Centre account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which will post 'near-live' explanations of VAR decisions.

However, it reaffirmed that referees won’t announce decisions on the microphone to avoid piling additional pressure on the officials.

To that end, Premier League managers have been encouraged not to keep publicly criticising VAR in their post-match press conferences.

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