The Premier League will give supporters greater insight into refereeing decisions during the 2026/27 season, with explanations from referees and VAR officials set to be published after selected matches.
The league, in partnership with professional referees’ body Pro Ref, said its expanded communications would provide fans with more information on how and why key decisions are reached during games.
The new season begins on Friday, with defending champions Arsenal facing newly promoted Coventry City.
Under the new system, the Premier League Match Centre will publish direct comments from on-field referees and VAR officials in selected incidents where their explanations can help clarify decisions.
The published information may include the referee’s call made during the incident, as well as the VAR’s explanation for choosing not to intervene or recommending an on-field review.
“This season, communications from Premier League Match Centre will include direct quotes from the on-field officials and from VAR, in selected incidents where this can be helpful to clarify the rationale behind a decision,” the Premier League said in its statement on Tuesday.
“This can include the “referee’s call” as described on-field, and the VAR’s direct explanation for why they do not intervene or why they recommended an on-field review,” the statement added.
The explanations will be shared through the Premier League Match Centre account on X, while a dedicated section on the league’s website and app will also provide updates after every match round.
The changes will also affect the use of Ref Cam, which gives viewers footage from the referee’s perspective during matches.
While selected Ref Cam video clips were introduced last season, the league said audio from certain incidents would now also be made available.
“Ref Cam offers a unique perspective from the referee’s view during Premier League matches.
“Last season, we saw in-game video clips being used in select incidents and next season, this will be expanded to include audio clips,” it added.
However, the audio feature will only apply to matches using Ref Cam, which is expected to cover around one or two games per match round. Only selected incidents will be released.
The Premier League also clarified that live VAR audio would not be included because of restrictions set by the International Football Association Board.
“This will not include live or in-game audio from the VAR, in line with the restrictions defined by IFAB,” the Premier League said.
Another major change will be the publication of weekly findings from the Key Match Incident Panel, beginning with the 2026/27 campaign.
The KMI Panel, established in the 2022/23 season, independently reviews significant match incidents as part of the assessment of officials’ performances.
Its reviews cover major decisions involving penalties, red cards, offside calls and other incidents within the referee’s jurisdiction.
“Each decision by Match Officials is adjudged to be correct or incorrect in the opinion of the panel, made up of three former players or coaches, alongside a representative from each of the Premier League and Pro Ref,” the statement further said.
According to the league, making the panel’s weekly assessments public will improve transparency around the evaluation of refereeing decisions.
Meanwhile, Pro Ref Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb will continue to lead the “Match Officials Mic’d Up” programme, which is distributed through Premier League broadcast partners.
The programme features full on-field and VAR audio from selected incidents, accompanied by Webb’s analysis and explanation of the decisions.
“The show allows the release of the full on-field and VAR audio around selected incidents, alongside Howard’s analysis, to provide further rationale and bring supporters closer to the decisions made in the Premier League,” EPL stated.
The Premier League and Pro Ref will also continue discussions with IFAB over the possibility of allowing more communication from match officials to be broadcast during live matches.
The latest measures are aimed at giving supporters greater clarity over contentious refereeing and VAR decisions while improving transparency across the league.
