Premier League defends VAR after FSA survey shows strong fan opposition

The Premier League has defended the continued use of VAR after a Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) survey found more than three-quarters of top-flight fans do not support the technology.The survey, conducted online between February 26 and March 23 and drawing almost 8,000 supporters of Premier League clubs, found 75.7% opposed VAR, while 91.7% said it had removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations.FSA Premier League network manager Thomas Concannon said: “These findings back up the FSA’s previous survey in 2021, where fans expressed misgivings about the introduction of VAR.”The FSA said it has shared the results with the Premier League and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), with the group expecting further discussions about potential changes to how VAR is applied and communicated.The Premier League argued that VAR improves outcomes and is deployed with a higher threshold for intervention than in other major competitions.  A Premier League spokesperson said: “In recent seasons, there have been around 100 correct VAR overturns per season – instances where goals would otherwise have been incorrectly awarded or disallowed, or red cards or penalties missed or wrongly given.”The league added that it applies a “high threshold” for intervention and that the on-field decision takes precedence, describing VAR as “less intrusive” in the Premier League than in other European leagues, including the UEFA Champions League.A separate annual FSA survey, covering more than 7,000 fans in England and Wales, found 91% believed football was better off without VAR, with only 2% agreeing that it makes football more enjoyable and 3% saying it improves the matchday experience.In that polling, 96% of respondents disagreed that decisions are generally resolved in a reasonable amount of time, while 92% agreed that VAR has removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations, underlining that dissatisfaction is concentrated on delays and the live-stadium experience.At the same time, the findings pointed to selective support for video review, with a majority backing the idea of referees communicating decisions in stadiums and more than half supporting VAR checks for offsides in the build-up to goals and for possible fouls.The debate is unfolding as football’s lawmakers continue a longer-term assessment of the system, with the International Football Association Board having announced a two-year review into VAR and related protocols, focusing on how it is used rather than whether it should exist.Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has described that process as an attempt to strike a balance between getting major decisions right and avoiding unnecessary disruption to the game.For the Premier League and its broadcast and commercial partners, the challenge remains aligning accuracy, pace and transparency with supporter sentiment, particularly among match-going fans who drive atmosphere and premium ticket demand.