Referees abuse risk attaches to greater VAR transparency, experts warn

Katy Bourne and Dom White of Pinsent Masons, who respectively specialise in brand protection and data and technology regulation in sport, were commenting after the Premier League announced that “more communications” from on-field referees and VARs will be made public during the season, which starts this weekend.

Premier League referees began announcing the outcome of certain VAR reviews to fans in stadiums in season 2024-25. Under the changes for the forthcoming season, more details of how some of these decisions are reached will be made public.

The Premier League has said it will release “direct quotes from the on-field officials and from VAR” for certain incidents, if it is deemed it will be “helpful to clarify the rationale behind a decision”. “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 Premier League explained.

In-game audio from the cameras worn by referees during Premier League matches will also be shared for selected incidents too, adding to video clips shown from the ‘ref cam’ at times last season. However, in line with rules set by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), live or in-game audio from the VAR will be outside the scope of this change.

Bourne said: “While the availability of further communications is welcome to give supporters further insight into how and why decisions are made, the risk is that it increases the abuse levelled at referees. Online abuse in football is no longer a peripheral issue and it does not just impact Premier League players. A recent report into online harms in football by Fair Game highlighted how online harm also affects referees, journalists, coaches, volunteers, supporters, club staff, administrators and governing bodies.”

“Governance and welfare support for referees is often underdeveloped, and many grassroots referees can be easily identified online. Even where perpetrators of abuse are identifiable, pursuing legal recourse can often be financially unviable. This cocktail creates concerns as to how routine protection can be deployed across a large national referee ecosystem,” she said.

“One way to better serve referees and the distinctive role that they play is to deploy brand protection tools, such as Alteria developed by Pinsent Masons, to monitor online abuse and remove this expeditiously. This will be particularly important where organisations such as the Premier League are encouraging fan communications through messaging on their websites and accounts,” Bourne added.

White added: “The Premier League's latest measures indicate the active role sports organisations can play in shaping the environment in which online conversation takes place. Giving fans more information about how key decisions were made can be an important governance tool: reducing some of the speculation that has fuelled abuse directed at match officials in the past and helping maintain a more informed online debate that has quickly become central part of how sport is consumed. However, sports organisations should also consider the impact that more information can have on individual officials and participants.”

“In some cases, providing more information may increase scrutiny and create additional safeguarding considerations. The challenge is providing enough information to build confidence and understanding, while ensuring that transparency measures remain proportionate and do not inadvertently expose individuals to even greater risk. As sports organisations continue to innovate with fan engagement, the challenge is making sure that information is delivered in a way that is responsible and proportionate,” he said.