Wolves have told Premier League rivals that VAR is putting their players at greater risk of injury as they bid to have the controversial system scrapped in time for next season.
In a six-page briefing document sent to every other top-flight club and seen by Mail Sport, Wolves outlined why they believe English football is better off without VAR. They aim to force a vote at the next Premier League shareholders’ meeting on June 6, which would need a 70 per cent majority to pass.
Though there seems very little chance of this happening, Wolves hope their move will start a wider conversation about VAR’s flaws which may lead to long-term improvements. One of Wolves’ arguments is that VAR delays are increasing the length of matches, which is placing players under even more strain.
Their paper, circulated on May 20, read: ‘Due to the stoppages in play that VAR brings, added time has more than tripled at the end of Premier League matches since its introduction.
‘This has led to matches running beyond 100 minutes on average, which has caused disruption for broadcasters, and increased both load and risk of injury to our players.
‘Under the current version of VAR, it’s impossible to solve the problem because VAR, especially when operated by humans, requires time to check and make decisions, naturally leading to extended added time.’
Wolves had an outside chance of European qualification after an excellent first half of the campaign before their season was effectively derailed by several injuries to key players, including first-choice forward line Pedro Neto, Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan.
The club also argue that VAR ‘increases suspicion of corruption’ due to the involvement of ‘multiple referees in decision-making’.
Though the club make no suggestion at all that such ‘corruption’ exists, they argue the ‘reputation of the league’ is being damaged.
In an explosive post on X after they were beaten at Everton in April, Nottingham Forest appeared to question the integrity of Stuart Attwell, who was on VAR duty that day.
‘Before the implementation of VAR, if a decision was incorrect, supporters would understand it was due to human error,’ read the Wolves statement. ‘Since the introduction of VAR, we are giving oxygen to those who suggest that the Premier League and PGMOL officials are corrupt.
‘People often distrust referees who are far removed from the pitch and cannot experience the game as those present do.
'The involvement of multiple referees in decision-making increases suspicion of corruption, as accountability is dispersed, making it easier to shift blame.’
Davichi
497
All this cry about VAR is just ridiculous. VAR isn't the problem but the incompetence and biased nature of the referees using the technology. It's a disgrace that referees are still making bad calls even with VAR, especially in England and Spain. They need to improve and stop favoritism or quit for new Referees who would do better.