REFEREEING errors fell to an all-time low in the Premier League last season – despite a series of controversies.
According to the Prem’s “Key Match Incident Panel” – made up of former players, managers and refs – there were just 18 VAR errors over the 380 matches of the 2024-25 campaign.
That was a 42 per cent drop on the 31 errors in 2023-24 and further down on the 35 mistakes assessed in the previous campaign.
The panel looks at every major decision on goals, penalties and red cards, determining if the call by the onfield officials or the VAR was correct or flawed.
SunSport understands the reduction was largely down to fewer missed VAR interventions on subjective decisions, although there were occasions in which Stockley Park wrongly recommended a change of call.
Missed interventions included the red cards for Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes against Spurs, Arsenal left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal at Wolves and the last minute penalty winner for West Ham that spelled the end for Old Trafford boss Erik ten Hag.
The KMI ruled that the VAR should have stepped in to recommend red cards for Brighton’s Joao Pedro against Brentford and Everton’s James Tarkowski in the final Goodison Merseyside derby.
Brentford were the biggest sufferers, with three mistakes which should have been changed in their favour, with Everton the beneficiaries of three errors.
There were a number of occasions in which the KMI Panel agreed that the on-field decision was wrong but did not meet the threshold for a VAR intervention.
The numbers will doubtless be met with disbelief from Arsenal fans who remain insistent that PGMOL have an agenda against them.
But the costly second yellow cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard against Brighton and Manchester City respectively did not come under the scrutiny of the Panel.
Changes to time-keeping last season saw an average of nine minutes and 45 seconds of stoppage time per game, down 108 seconds from the previous season.
The campaign saw 105 added time goals across the 380 matches, 40 fewer than in 2023-24.
But VAR checks were significantly speeded up, with the average delay per match due to VAR down to 39 seconds from 64 seconds in the previous season.
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