The lack of communication around VAR decisions to fans in stadiums and watching on television is a “huge missed opportunity” according to the boss of a key Premier League and Champions League rights holder.
More than three quarters of match-goers (79.1 per cent) and two-thirds of TV viewers (65.4 per cent) rated their experience of VAR as either poor or very poor in a survey of almost 10,000 fans published by the Football Supporters’ Association last month.
Eighty per cent said fans should be able to hear live discussions between the VAR and the on-pitch referee, something not allowed under the current laws of the game.
TNT Sports, which replaces BT Sport from Tuesday, has pledged to be ‘Right By The Fans’ and believes supporters deserve greater visibility of the decision-making process.
Asked what influence TNT Sports could have on the Premier League and UEFA via its rights deals, Andrew Georgiou, the president and managing director of Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, told the PA news agency: “We can only share our position and we have shared our position with both UEFA and the Premier League who are our partners, and that is to say VAR is a really important moment in the sport.
“And at the moment we cannot tell the audience what’s going on, and that’s a challenge and I think it’s a huge missed opportunity.
“We would welcome a change that allowed us to share more about what’s going on between the referees in order to help educate the audience about the decision-making process, which I think will also help to defuse some of the misunderstandings around why some decisions are or are not made.
“I think it’s a massive positive if we can get that right.”
FIFA is currently trialling a new protocol in its competitions – including the Women’s World Cup which starts later this week – allowing referees to communicate the final decision at the end of a VAR check to stadium and television audiences.
Asked if that went far enough, Georgiou added: “We’ll take everything we can get. Honestly, I think the more you can share the better off you’ll be because, again, fans just want to understand and they can still disagree, but at least they know what they’re disagreeing with.
“When we talk about being ‘Right By The Fans’, the more we can share with them, what’s going on, the more we can engage with them about whether they agree or not. And that’s got to be our goal.”
Domestic leagues are also in favour of broadcasting the two-way audio between referees and VARs live, with 25 out of the World Leagues Forum’s 41 members in support in a survey published last month.
The Premier League, a member of the WLF, has not said which way it voted in the survey.
Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), appeared on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme in May to review a number of VAR decisions taken earlier in the season, when for the first time the discussions between referees and VARs were heard.
PA understands PGMOL is looking to make such appearances a more frequent feature of the coming season, with Webb determined to make refereeing and the VAR review process more transparent within the limits imposed by the laws of the game.
Toronto FC v CF Montreal: Courtois accepts blame amid ongoing winless streak
Laurent Courtois has accepted that it is on him to find a winning formula as CF Montreal look to snap their winless run against Toronto FC.
Montreal were beaten 3-1 by Columbus Crew in midweek and are now without a victory in six games in all competitions.
That includes a three-game losing streak in MLS, leaving them 13th in the Eastern Conference, and Courtois is eager to get back on track.
"It's up to me to find the winning formulas and discern the phases of the game," head coach Courtois said after the loss to Columbus.
"We have to grit our teeth and find solutions. The difficult times we are going through help me identify my group. I want to know the players better.
"From all the negative aspects we can observe, I can identify a few individual aspects to improve the game or the team itself."
Monreal's rivals Toronto have themselves lost back-to-back games ahead of Saturday's Canadian Classique at BMO Field.
Nashville SC scored twice late on to snatch a 2-0 win in the Reds' most recent match, but acting head coach Jason deVos admits there can be no excuses.
"The last ten minutes, two mistakes cost us and that's the cruelty of football sometimes - that it's a 90-minute match and you need to put in a 90-minute performance in," he said.
"The players are aware of that. They know where the growth areas are for us as a team."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto - Federico Bernardeschi
Bernardeschi missed the loss to Nashville but will hope to start this weekend in a fixture he has fond memories of.
The Italian has scored in each of his two home games against Montreal, making him the third Toronto player to score in two successive home games against them after Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.
Montreal - Joel Waterman
Montreal have conceded three or more goals five times across their 12 MLS games this season, which is tied with San Jose Earthquakes for the most in MLS.
They quite simply need to sharpen up at the back, with Joel Waterman needing to step up and hope others around him also do so.. The centre-back led the way for interceptions (three) and clearances (four) against Columbus, yet it was still not enough.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Montreal have won five successive matches against Toronto, following a run of neither side ever winning more than three on the spin in this fixture.
Toronto have won seven and drawn one of their eight matches in which they have held opponents under two goals since September, while they have lost all 13 in which they have shipped two or more.
Keeping the opposition quiet is therefore key, and this could present a chance to do just that against a Montreal side with fewer points (five) than any side in MLS since mid-March.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto - 39.6%
Draw - 28.5%
Montreal - 31.9%
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
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