The Premier League is planning to test Ref Cams in selected matches during its opening round of fixtures this weekend with a view to making the new technology a permanent feature of live TV games for the rest of the season.
The Guardian has learned that the clubs have given their approval for the trial, with the Premier League’s broadcast partners, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, also supporting the innovation.
It is understood the trial will last six weeks, during which players, clubs and broadcasters will be asked to provide feedback, with a decision on whether to introduce Ref Cams permanently to be made at the end of next month.
During the trial no audio will be supplied with the Ref Cam replays, although this could be introduced at a later date if clubs agree.
Fifa trialled Ref Cams at the Club World Cup in the US this summer, after which the chair of its refereeing committee, Pierluigi Collina, said the experiment had gone “beyond expectations”.
Following a post-tournament review the International Football Association Board, which determines the laws of the game, last month gave theirits approval for the extension of the Ref Cam trial to domestic competitions. The Premier League subsequently trialled the new equipment in the final two games of its pre-season Summer Series in the US, between Bournemouth and West Ham and Manchester United and Everton in Atlanta.
The Premier League and broadcasters have embraced the new technology as they believe it enriches the viewer’s TV experience by giving them a unique view of the action. While the Ref Cams do not offer live action footage, they can be used to provide near‑instant replays of match incidents from a different angle.
Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), the refereeing body, is also supportive on the grounds that Ref Cams will give an extra insight into the difficulty of refereeing top‑flight matches, as well as highlighting the fact that officials sometimes have a limited view of crucial incidents despite their best efforts.
Ref Cam technology involves referees wearing cameras on their right ear, connected to a microphone and transmitter, which sends video to the broadcasters. Two wires – one for the camera and the other for a microphone – are put on the back of the referee’s shirt and a transmitter is placed in a shorts pocket.
PGMO has been looking to innovate in this area for some time, with Jarred Gillett wearing a head-mounted Ref Cam during a Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United in a trial last year, although the footage was only broadcast in highlights programmes at a later date. The Premier League also trialled chest-mounted GoPro cameras in its US Summer Series two years ago without broadcasting the action during matches.
At the Club World Cup, the Ref Cam footage was shown on big screens at the stadiums, as well as being broadcast by global rights holder Dazn during the games, which the Premier League want to replicate. Having been impressed by the Club World Cup trial, Fifa is expected to approve the use of Ref Cams for next summer’s World Cup.
The Premier League declined to comment.
Howard Webb, PGMO’s chief refereeing officer, has suggested the video assistant referee system could be expanded to include yellow cards and corners, though he could envisage complications. He told the BBC: “If you are talking about yellow cards that are delivered incorrectly … then you also have to think about wrongly not-issued yellow cards.”
He continued: “I understand the impact of a wrongly awarded corner that’s clearly wrong – easy to see on video – and the impact of a wrongly issued yellow card. But equally there’s also a feeling that VAR already exists to rectify clear errors in big situations, so we’ll have those discussions and make sure to consult with the English game as well.”
Webb also addressed the abuse received by match officials – Michael Oliver received death threats online and Anthony Taylor was confronted by angry Roma fans in Budapest after their club’s Europa League final defeat by Sevilla in 2023 – and described the situation as “a little bit of a reflection of society today”.
He said: “Disagreement with an outcome doesn’t give a license to abuse officials on certain platforms, including threats to the safety of officials and their families. That is wholly unacceptable.”
