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Refereeing and VAR errors increase in Premier League

· 390 words · By Dale Johnson
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0rxqg9erewo

fact_checkFact-Check Results

12 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
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“Refereeing mistakes on the field and through the video assistant referee have risen across most categories in this season's Premier League.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results from BBC Sport and Sporticos independently report that refereeing mistakes, both on the field and through VAR, have risen this season compared to previous periods.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Edmund Cornwall Brooks (born 1990) is an English professional football referee who primarily officiates in the Premier League, having been promoted to the Select Group in 2021. He has been a UEFA…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brooks_(referee)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Michael Oliver (born 20 February 1985) is an English professional football referee from Ashington, Northumberland. His county FA is the Northumberland Football Association. He belongs to the Select Gr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Oliver_(referee)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert Jones (born 4 April 1987) is an English football referee. He has refereed in the English Football League since 2016 and the Premier League since 2019. He was the referee for the 2016 National L…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jones_(referee)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel declared another four errors by referees in its latest report, taking the total to 54.”
CORROBORATED
Two distinct web search results (MSN and BBC) report the same specific figure: the KMI panel declared four errors, bringing the total to 54.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2019–20 European windstorm season was the fifth instance of seasonal European windstorm naming in Europe. This is the first season in which the Netherlands meteorological authority took part, join…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_European_windstorm_sea…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 26, 2026 · Refereeing mistakes on the field and through the video assistant referee have risen across most categories in this season's Premier League. The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI…
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c0rxqg9erewo
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web search NEUTRAL — The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel declared another four referee errors in its latest report, taking the total to 54. At the same stage last season there had been 44 wrong or ...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/referee-and-var-error…
+ 1 more evidence source
info
“At the same stage last season there had been 44 wrong or missed VAR interventions, or on-field mistakes which did not reach the threshold for a video review.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim specifies a figure (44 errors) for the 'same stage last season' (2022-23). While web search results mention comparisons to previous seasons, the specific figure of 44 for that exact stage in 2022-23 is only present in the context of the web search results, making it difficult to corroborate across multiple independent sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Premier League Darts, known for sponsorship purposes as BetMGM Premier League Darts, is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League_Darts
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025–26 Premier League is the 34th season of the Premier League and the 127th season of top-flight English football. The fixtures were released on 18 June 2025. The season will consist of 33 weeke…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–26_Premier_League
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) says the general trend is positive, with 70 mistakes after 30 games of the 2023-24 campaign.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results (BBC and another source) report the exact statistic: PGMO stated 70 mistakes after 30 games in the 2023-24 campaign.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol, also known as the DeepMind Challenge Match, was a five-game Go match between top Go player Lee Sedol and AlphaGo, a computer Go program developed by DeepMind, played in Seoul…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaGo_versus_Lee_Sedol
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the int…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_fixing
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“But there have already been as many VAR errors this season (18) as in the whole of the last campaign - although with a quarter of the season left, that figure is much lower than the overall total for 2022-23 (38) and 2023-34 (31).”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim compares the current season's 18 VAR errors to the total of the 2022-23 season (38) and 2023-24 (31). While web search results contain these comparative figures, they appear to be drawn from a single narrative source, making independent corroboration of the specific comparison difficult.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Henry Vars (born Henryk Warszawski; December 29, 1902 – September 1, 1977) was a Polish-American composer, arranger and conductor whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. He is …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Vars
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Levardis Robert Martyn Burton (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and Kunta Kinte in t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeVar_Burton
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_assistant_referee
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“One area of improvement has been incorrect VAR reviews, which have fallen from four to three.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim specifies a decrease from 4 to 3 incorrect VAR reviews. The evidence provided for this claim is limited to web search results that mention general trends but do not independently confirm this specific numerical decrease (4 to 3) across multiple sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2023–24 Russian Premier League was the 32nd season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 22nd under the current Russian Premier League nam…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023–24_Russian_Premier_League
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web search NEUTRAL — Stage. Regular Season, 32-round. Reviews of games. Chelsea 0 - 3 Man City Highlights.
https://soccer365.net/competitions/12/
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web search NEUTRAL — The year’s already over? Let’s look back.Help keep Vox free for everybody: http://www.vox.com/give-now Subscribe to our channel and turn on notifications (...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJs_64OUpEs
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“However, season-on-season there have been more missed VAR interventions (15), on-field errors (25) and incorrect second yellow card decisions (11).”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results (The Mirror and stocks99.in) report the same set of season-on-season increases: 15 missed VAR interventions, 25 on-field errors, and 11 incorrect second yellow card decisions.
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 Premier League was the 33rd season of the Premier League and the 126th season of top-flight English football overall. Manchester City entered the season as four-time defending champions, b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_Premier_League
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web search NEUTRAL — The Premier League's KMI Panel says both referee and VAR were right not to give a penalty to Manchester United's Amad Diallo at Bournemouth.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cwykx5yzr7ko
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web search NEUTRAL — Subscribe to Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL Watch Sky Sports: https://bit.ly/BuySkySportsAfter Leicester's loss to Liverpo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PUH8aWIJYQ
info
“In the round of matches between 14 and 16 March, the KMI Panel determined that three penalties should have been awarded, but the VAR was correct not to step in.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim specifies three penalties identified between March 14 and 16, 2024. This specific detail is only mentioned in the web search results, lacking corroboration from a second independent source.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel has identified 18 VAR mistakes across the 2024-25 season, an improvement on the previous campaign.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Premier League chooses not to publicize the results of the KMI panel, and indeed earlier this season began delaying releasing the information to club by seven days until after the next round of fi…
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43320888/revealed-eve…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Premier League have revealed that half of the division's teams have been on the wrong end of incorrect decisions from video assistant referees (VAR) so far this season, no side more negatively imp…
https://www.90min.com/premier-league-name-13-var-errors-2024…
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“The KMI Panel is an independent, five-person body which assesses all incidents from each round of matches.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim, and no sources were provided to confirm the KMI Panel's structure (independent, five-person body assessing all incidents).
help
“There have been fewer VAR interventions this season, down from 89 to 83. PGMO says this indicates better on-field decision making to the intended high bar.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim, and no sources were provided to confirm the specific comparison of 83 vs 89 interventions.
schedule
“It adds that delays because of VAR have improved by 25% over the last three campaigns. Stoppages have fallen from 64 seconds in 2023-24 to 48 seconds this season, which includes announcements inside stadiums.”
PENDING
schedule
“On-field accuracy - which excludes VAR interventions to correct errors - has remained consistent at about 86% since the 2023-24 season.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.