'Other leagues in the world look up to our referees'

The head of football at the Premier League has defended the quality of refereeing in the competition, saying clubs acknowledge that officiating is improving and that other leagues outside the UK look up to our referees.

Tony Scholes, the League’s Chief Football Officer, sought to counter negative perceptions of Premier League match officials in the UK.

“The feedback that I'm getting is that the vast majority of clubs recognise significant progress in this area," Scholes said. "Other leagues around the world all look up to the match officials in this country, and indeed the VAR process and VAR officials in this country as a model that they would like to follow.

“Sometimes it doesn't feel that way here in England, but that's the message that I get from people around the world."

Some of the criticism in its most extreme form has been online abuse for referee Michael Oliver after the recent match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal. “We can't have them facing the kind of abuse that occurs on occasions,” added Scholes. “Not only will it make them question whether or not this is the right role for them, it's also going to affect young people coming in to being an official as well.

“I know that's not always the perception, but these guys are good. And the rest of the world recognise how good they are”.

Scholes cited data from the Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel, which sits on a regular basis to evaluate match officials, as evidence of the improvement in decision-making, with incorrect decisions by on-field officials and errors by VARs both down.

The panel found that incorrect decisions by referees were down from 80 last season up to Matchweek 23 to 64 this campaign and that errors by the VARs, including missed interventions, were down from 20 to 13.

“Sixty-six out of 70 interventions have been correct,” Scholes said. “Four have been incorrect: the Dango Ouattara handball against Newcastle; the Matthijs De Ligt foul on Danny Ings at West Ham; Christian Norgaard's red card against Jordan Pickford [at Everton]; and Chris Wood against Southampton being given offside.

“We will remember those four because we all focus on the negative but we don't remember quite so readily are the 66 correct interventions. So it's really important that we recognise that.

“And I think also we should recognize that the number VAR errors has gone down substantially from 20 to 13. And the season before 2022/23, it was at 25. So it's gone down substantially. And I say this because while it's important that we keep pushing these officials to be as good as they can be, it's also right that we acknowledge the progress that is being made and at the league we do that.

Because we do not get the best performances out of people who we are constantly criticising, constantly beating up over errors made. It's right that we should recognise the progress. And I see that progress in the results in front of you, the KMI results."

Scholes also pointed to the total number of interventions by VAR, which while up from 61 after 230 matches last season to 70 after 269 this campaign, was still lower than perhaps public perception.

*including missed interventions

“That’s less than one intervention in three games, which shows that the interference of the VAR is perhaps not at the level that many of us perceive it is,” Scholes said.

As for how long matches have been delayed by VAR processes, that has also declined to on average 40 seconds this season, 26 seconds fewer than at this stage last season.

Semi-automated offsides to launch this season?

This is before the introduction of Semi-Automated Offside Technology, which was intended for earlier in the season but has yet to happen.

Scholes is confident the system being tested is better than other technologies that use chips in balls and that its introduction during the season won’t affect the integrity of the Premier League, saying that the determination of offsides won’t change, just the speed at which the same conclusions are made.

“The progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant,” Scholes said. “We believe we're going to be adopting the best system and the most accurate system without the need for the chip in the ball.

“Fundamentally, the operation of semi-automated offside technology does not change the integrity of the offside law, and doesn't change the integrity of the decision-making.

“We've got 100 per cent accuracy on factual offsides post-VAR this season, so it won't improve the accuracy. What it does is make the process more efficient.”

Added time and penalties dropping

Scholes also shared data that showed that a change in application of added time this season had reduced the average match length from 101 minutes and 40 seconds at this stage last season to 99min 53sec. Match officials have been instructed this season to start counting additional time from 30 seconds after a goal is scored rather than after the goal itself.

Scholes also cited a fall in the number of penalties in the Premier League because of a change in the interpretations of handball after feedback from clubs. So far 52 penalties have been awarded this season, compared with 66 at this stage of 2023/24.

As for the competition and the levels of the game being played by clubs this season, Scholes called it “the best football competition in the world”, not only at present but in the future as well.

“When we look at the quality of the competition, current metrics suggest seven of the top 10 players in the world are playing here, and 16 of the top 25 — the best players are here,” Scholes said.

But as well as the best players from abroad coming to the Premier League, chances for homegrown players are increasing too, thanks in part to the impact of the “huge sums” invested in academies via the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan since 2012.

“To develop the best players, we need the best environment, which means bringing together the best talent from across the world,” Scholes said. “Seven of the top 10 players in the world are here, and the revenue we generate enables our clubs to invest in the best talent globally.

“We've got a new wave [of domestic talent] coming through – Ethan Nwaneri and [Myles] Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal, Tyler Dibling at Southampton, Archie Gray at Tottenham [Hotspur]. We've had 54 homegrown debuts already this season in the Premier League - the most of any year so the prospects are good. We keep a very sharp eye on the future as well as the present and, with the talent coming through, we're very confident that the Premier League will maintain its place as an absolute premium football product.”