The Premier League is set to turn down an expansion of VAR's powers for next season — even though the rules that would enable it have already been approved at the highest level of the game. According to The Guardian, the league is preparing to opt out of new IFAB-sanctioned interventions covering corner kick decisions and second yellow cards, following advice from PGMOL that the additional responsibilities would pile further pressure onto match officials. The World Cup this summer will use the expanded framework. English top-flight football, apparently, will not.
In February 2026, the International Football Association Board — the body that writes the laws of the game — greenlit a broader scope for VAR intervention. The two headline additions: the ability to flag incorrectly awarded corners, and the power to step in on second yellow card calls that officials may have missed or misapplied. Both are areas where high-profile errors have caused genuine controversy in recent seasons.
FIFA moved quickly. The expanded powers are confirmed for the 2026 World Cup, meaning the biggest tournament in football will operate under a different ruleset to the Premier League — at least for now.
The reported sticking point is PGMOL. The referees' body has apparently flagged concerns that widening VAR's remit would increase the cognitive load on officials who are already operating under intense scrutiny. The logic isn't entirely without merit — every additional intervention point is another decision, another delay, another moment for the timeline to turn on a referee's name.
But it's a curious argument to make in public, given that the entire premise of VAR was to catch the errors that humans miss under pressure. Telling supporters that VAR won't be expanded because it might be too much for the people running VAR is — let's say — a difficult sell.
The phrase 'set to reject' matters here. The Guardian's report indicates the decision is imminent rather than formally ratified, and it's not yet confirmed whether the Premier League is rejecting both expansions outright or whether a partial adoption remains on the table. That detail is worth watching.
What's already clear is the direction of travel: English football heading into a World Cup summer will be running a different version of the laws to the tournament its players are preparing for. Fans watching Jude Bellingham or Bukayo Saka in the United States and Canada this June will see VAR operating in ways it simply doesn't back home. That inconsistency isn't new — but it's about to become very visible, very fast.
The Premier League has form for moving slowly on VAR reform. It was the last major league to adopt it, spent years debating its own semi-automated offside rollout, and has repeatedly resisted changes that other competitions have absorbed without much drama. Whether that caution is principled governance or institutional inertia tends to depend on which side of a disallowed goal you're sitting.
The Premier League is set to turn down an expansion of VAR's powers for next season — even though the rules that would enable it have already been approved at the highest level of the game.
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The Guardian — Football
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“Stays on Transfers — different angle, same beat.”
Unai Emery does not do diplomatic silence. The Aston Villa manager has publicly described Harvey Elliott's loan spell at Villa Park as 'embarrassing' — four Premier League appearances, no involvement
