Premier League makes a surprising decision that might create confusion for referees
This season, fans will get to see the full judgments made by the Key Match Incidents Panel (KMI), thanks to one of three new steps the Premier League is taking to be more open and clear.
The KMI Panel, which reviews refereeing decisions both during and after games, caused quite a stir last season — especially since VAR was introduced. Until now, the full judgments from the five members of the Panel were kept private. But starting with the 2026-27 season, the Premier League wants to change that.
Clubs have always received the full reports, including comments from Panel members, and sometimes leaked parts of them. Now, there’s no need for leaks because the full judgments will be shared openly.
The Panel meets every week to carefully review important calls. It includes three former players and coaches, plus representatives from the Premier League and Pro Ref, the referees’ group. To decide if a call was right or wrong, a majority vote of the five members is enough — it doesn’t have to be unanimous.
The Panel looks at key and often controversial moments, using the rules of the game and what’s expected in top English football. Last season, the Panel found 25 VAR errors (up from 18 the year before), according to the BBC. The Panel itself doesn’t cause controversy — it’s the decisions that do — and it can’t fix mistakes it points out, which can frustrate fans. But with these new changes, fans will now be able to see the full judgments, which could spark even more debates.
Another new change is that direct quotes from the referees involved in incidents will be shared publicly through the Premier League Match Centre account on X. Before, the account only gave general descriptions, but now referees will explain their decisions in their own words in real-time.
Plus, a complete report, reviewed and agreed upon by all five Panel members, will be published a few days after each match for fans to read.
The Premier League is also expanding the Ref Cam to include sound, so fans can hear what referees say to players and teams during the game.
Together, these three changes should make it harder for controversial decisions to go unnoticed and help hold officials accountable.
Andy Burnham, a vocal critic of VAR who once said he’d ban it if he could, saw his favorite team Everton suffer last season because of the KMI Panel. In a thrilling 3-3 draw against Manchester City, Everton missed out on a penalty that the Panel later confirmed they should have had. That penalty could have given Everton crucial points as they fought for a spot in Europe — but unfortunately, they didn’t qualify.
While these new steps are a big improvement, full transparency is still limited because IFAB won’t allow live broadcasting of VAR discussions.
Last season, Chelsea and Bournemouth had the most VAR decisions in their favor with four each, followed by Arsenal with three. On the other hand, Everton and Crystal Palace had the most errors against them, with three each — including Everton’s wrongly denied penalty against Manchester City.