How does the VAR system work in the Premier League?

A straightforward guide to how VAR operates in the Premier League, what it can and cannot review, how the on-field review process works, and why some decisions still cause controversy despite the technology.

Few things in modern football provoke a reaction quite like VAR. It was supposed to make the big decisions cleaner, fairer, and harder to argue with. Instead it's managed to make everyone angrier, just about different things.

Love it or hate it, VAR is now a permanent fixture in the Premier League, and understanding how it works explains both why it exists and why it still drives everyone absolutely mad.

What can Premier League VAR review during a match?

VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee. It's a system that uses video footage and a dedicated team of professional game match officials to support the on-field ref, and help them review certain decisions during a match. The VAR team watches the game on multiple camera angles and can flag potential errors to the referee through an earpiece.

VAR doesn't review everything. It operates across four specific categories of decision, and anything outside those categories is left entirely to the on-field ref. The four reviewable situations are goals, penalty decisions, direct red card offences, and cases of mistaken identity. That last one is rare, but it matters when it happens.

Within those categories, VAR can only intervene when there has been a clear and obvious error. This threshold is intentional. The system was never designed to second-guess every close call, only to correct mistakes big enough that most people watching could see. Whether that threshold is applied consistently is, to put it mildly, a point of heated debate among Premier League supporters.

Offsides are handled slightly differently. These are checked systematically for every goal, using a semi-automated system that plots lines across the frame to determine whether any part of an attacker's body was ahead of the last defender. A toenail offside is still an offside, which has produced some memorable on-screen graphics, and some deeply unhappy strikers.

The on-field review process and mistaken identity explained

When a potential error is flagged, the VAR team based at Stockley Park in West London reviews the footage. If they identify a clear and obvious error, they communicate with the on-field referee and recommend what action to take.

At that point, one of two things happens. The referee can accept the recommendation and change the decision without leaving the centre circle, or they can conduct an on-field review, and watch the footage themselves before making a final call.

Mistaken identity cases follow the same process. If the wrong player has been booked or sent off, VAR can flag it and the referee can correct the error before play resumes. Once the referee makes a decision following a review, it's final. VAR cannot re-review the same incident, even if the reviewed decision still looks questionable on the replays.

The biggest Premier League VAR controversies in recent seasons

Controversy has followed VAR into almost every premier league match round since the system launched at the start of the 2019/20 season.

Some of the most frustrating cases have involved decisions that were anything but close calls. In Chelsea's home match against Fulham this season, Josh King had a legitimate goal ruled out after VAR incorrectly flagged a foul in the build-up. The Premier League's own review panel later ruled unanimously that no offence had been committed.

Nathan Collins avoided a red card against Manchester United despite pulling back Bryan Mbeumo as he was about to shoot. The panel were unanimous that it should have been a sending off. Brentford kept 11 men on the pitch and held on to win. Penalty decisions have also generated plenty of controversy. A challenge on Phil Foden inside the Newcastle box went unpenalised despite the majority of the review panel later ruling it a foul. Newcastle won the game.

What makes these cases particularly frustrating for supporters is that they are not close calls. The system was built to catch clear and obvious errors, but when the review panel itself rules unanimously that a decision was wrong and VAR still missed it, the constant questions about consistency become very hard to dismiss.

Track the key decisions and talking points with Match Bingo

VAR has changed how Premier League matches feel, from the way goals are celebrated to the frustrated conversations after the final whistle. Whether you think VAR has made football fairer or just found new ways to frustrate everyone, it's now woven into the fabric of the Premier League. 

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