Refereeing mistakes on the field and through the video assistant referee have risen across most categories in this season’s Premier League.
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel declared another four errors by referees in its latest report, taking the total to 54.
At the same stage last season there had been 44 wrong or missed VAR interventions, or on-field mistakes which did not reach the threshold for a video review.
Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) says the general trend is positive, with 70 mistakes after 30 games of the 2023-24 campaign.
But there have already been as many VAR errors this season (18) as in the whole of the last campaign although with a quarter of the season left, that figure is much lower than the overall total for 2022-23 (38) and 2023-34 (31).
One area of improvement has been incorrect VAR reviews, which have fallen from four to three.
However, season-on-season there have been more missed VAR interventions (15), on-field errors (25) and incorrect second yellow card decisions (11).
In the round of matches between 14 and 16 March, the KMI Panel determined that three penalties should have been awarded, but the VAR was correct not to step in.
Arsenal should have been given a spot-kick against Everton for a foul by Michael Keane on Kai Havertz while Chelsea defender Reece James pulled back Newcastle United’s Malick Thiaw inside the area.
There should also have been a penalty for Brentford, when Kevin Schade was held by Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Andre.
The fourth error was an incorrect second yellow card for Leeds United’s Gabriel Gudmundsson at Crystal Palace. This was not reviewable by VAR, but will be from next season.
The KMI Panel is an independent, five-person body which assesses all incidents from each round of matches.
There have been fewer VAR interventions this season, down from 89 to 83. PGMO says this indicates better on-field decision making to the intended high bar.
It adds that delays because of VAR have improved by 25 percent over the last three campaigns. Stoppages have fallen from 64 seconds in 2023-24 to 48 seconds this season, which includes announcements inside stadiums.
On-field accuracy which excludes VAR interventions to correct errors has remained consistent at about 86 percent since the 2023-24 season.-BBC
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