Why the use of VAR should be suspended in the EPL following a host of glaring mistakes last weekend

The most high-profile incident saw Chelsea denied a penalty against West Ham United for an incident that replays proved was a handball in the penalty box. In addition, Arsenal were denied three points for a clear offside equaliser in their match against Brentford, while several other decisions were met with confusion and disbelief.

It is clear that the system is not working as intended, and it is time for the EPL to take decisive action. The use of VAR should be suspended until the system is able to produce more consistent and accurate results.

The EPL should also increase the number of referees and linesmen on the pitch to ensure that more eyes are on the game and that decisions can be made more quickly. This would help reduce the amount of time that teams are forced to wait for the VAR to review the incident and make a decision, thus avoiding the delays that have been seen in recent weeks.

Furthermore, the EPL should consider introducing a system of “VAR reviews” whereby teams can request a review of an incident if they feel that the referee has made a mistake. This would allow for more accurate decisions to be made, and it would also help to reduce the amount of time that teams have to wait for VAR decisions.

Finally, the EPL should ensure that the introduction of VAR does not negatively impact the atmosphere of the game, as it has in recent weeks. VAR should be used to improve the accuracy of refereeing decisions, not to slow the game down and turn the fans against the officials.

For the sake of the game and its fans, the use of VAR in the EPL should be suspended until the system can produce more consistent and accurate results. Until then, the league should take steps to ensure that the atmosphere of the game is not affected by the introduction of VAR.