Wolves lose bid to scrap VAR in Premier League 19 votes to 1 - ESPN

Wolverhampton Wanderers have failed to receive any support from other teams in the Premier League in their bid to get VAR scrapped, with clubs voting 19-1 to keep the video assistant on Thursday.

Wolves lodged a motion for consideration at the end-of-season AGM stating that «the price we are paying for a small increase in accuracy is at odds with the spirit of our game, and as a result we should remove it from the 2024/25 season onwards.»

Fourteen clubs of the 20 top-flight clubs needed to back Wolves' motion for it to pass and for VAR to be removed from English football with immediate effect. It was thought the vote might not even go ahead due to a lack of support, and while it did it was effectively a token measure; it was effectively reduced to an umbrella discussion of areas for improvement

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Ahead of the meeting, clubs who regularly play in European competition, which feature VAR, had not been expected to entertain removing it from the Premier League, while clubs from lower down in the table had indicated that ditching the video referee at this stage would be counter-productive.

While other clubs shared Wolves' concern about ongoing problems with its implementation, many believe VAR provides a safety net against poor on-field decisions and steps should be taken to improve the processes.

Club agreed six action points for the improvement of VAR:

1. Maintaining a high threshold for VAR intervention to deliver greater consistency and less interruptions to the flow of the game.

2. Reducing delays to the game, primarily through the introduction of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and the maintained high threshold for VAR intervention.

3. Improving fan experience