A&H

Premier League and VAR

T

The Referee

Well-Known Member
Not sure if this is just poorly worded from the BBC but here is a quote from a recent BBC Sport article:

For offsides, the Premier League is advising assistant referees to flag for clear incidents, but to keep their flag down for tight calls, knowing these will be corrected by VAR should it be required. This should theoretically cut down on attacking sides being wrongly denied a goalscoring opportunity.​

This implies no delayed flag; instead, the assistant will just keep the flag down altogether and let play continue.


Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48953873
 
The Referee Store
Yes, but I suspect that they will be "on comms" saying they think it is offside.

I still think once that phase has finished (ie corner, etc) they will pull it back.
 
That's exactly the same mis-characterisation that various pundits and commentators make all the time. They get confused between a delayed flag and no flag at all. As we have said in other discussions, there is only one VAR protocol which everyone must follow. Premier League AR's, like AR's everywhere else where VAR is in use, will do as it says in the Laws of the Game:

If an assistant referee delays a flag for an offence, the assistant referee must raise the flag if the attacking team scores a goal, is awarded a penalty kick, free kick, corner kick or throw-in, or retains possession of the ball after the initial attack has ended; in all other situations, the assistant referee should decide whether or not to raise the flag, depending on the requirements of the game
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So while there is a provision for not flagging, even after delaying the flag, the AR "must raise the flag" when the circumstances so dictate.

I'm quite sure that AR's in the Premier League have not been given instructions to ignore what the Laws say they must do.
 
Do you remember before the World Cup when Collina made a comment similar to this and that led to all sorts of confusion on here? And I was the one trying to explain about the delayed flag and everyone was talking about how assistant referees have been made useless? It's the same thing here.
 
cwyeary said:
Do you remember before the World Cup when Collina made a comment similar to this and that led to all sorts of confusion on here? And I was the one trying to explain about the delayed flag and everyone was talking about how assistant referees have been made useless? It's the same thing here.
Click to expand...
Yes, I remember that. So when even someone as close to the matter as Collina can mess this up, it's hardly surprising that a journalist trying to summarise things could mis-speak also.
 
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