Premier League clubs to debate whether to dump VAR for rest of season | Football

Premier League clubs will debate whether to dump VAR for the remainder of the season – if it can be completed – after the International Football Association Board (Ifab) said that individual competitions can do so if they want to.

The clubs, who will hold a conference call on Monday, must also vote on another Ifab temporary amendment – whether to agree to the use of five substitutes in matches.

It is not thought that the clubs will veto the use of VAR partly because, until the Ifab announcement, it had not been on the agenda. The clubs agreed to introduce the technology for this season and it could be argued that a move away from it for the final matches would compromise the integrity of the competition. Furthermore, it would seem strange to remove a feature of the game that would return at the start of the following season.

There has been the suggestion that dropping VAR would make it slightly easier to plan for the resumption of play but it has no material impact on the staging of games from a logistical standpoint.

If clubs agree to extra substitutions, each side will have three opportunities, excluding half-time, to make changes. Fifa said the measure could be applied in competitions that finish before the end of 2020.

“The temporary amendment comes into force with immediate effect,” it said, “and has been made as matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfare.”