“VAR is no longer fit for purpose.” A former referee boss has just launched a scathing attack on the current PGMOL leadership following the latest Liverpool controversy. He claims that the “subjective” decisions in the Man City and Sunderland games have officially “broken” the integrity of the Premier League! 📉⚖️

The dam of institutional loyalty has finally burst. In a withering assessment that cuts to the very heart of English football’s officiating crisis, a former head of refereeing has delivered a verdict that will echo through the corridors of power at the Premier League and PGMOL for years to come.

**”VAR is no longer fit for purpose.”**

This is not the rant of a disgruntled fan or the opportunistic critique of a pundit seeking headlines. This is the considered judgment of a man who once sat at the apex of the refereeing establishment—someone who understands the technology, the protocols, and the personnel intimately. When he speaks, the game should listen.

**The Liverpool Precedent: Two Games, Two Catastrophes**

The former official’s fury is specifically ignited by the **”subjective” decisions** that have marred Liverpool’s recent fixtures against Manchester City and Sunderland—two matches where the integrity of the competition was not merely compromised but, in his view, **systematically broken**.

Against City, a “scandalous” red card that defied the available visual evidence. Against Sunderland, a decision that has now sparked allegations of “manipulated” VAR footage from respected voices like Ashley Cole. Two games. Two catastrophic failures. One inescapable conclusion.

**”When the technology introduced to eliminate error becomes the instrument of error, you haven’t improved the game—you’ve multiplied its capacity for injustice,”** the former official stated.

**The “Subjectivity” Scandal**

At the heart of his critique lies a fundamental design flaw that he claims the current PGMOL leadership has actively exacerbated rather than addressed. VAR was intended to correct **”clear and obvious errors”**—objective mistakes that any reasonable observer could identify. What it has become, he argues, is a mechanism for **elevating subjective interpretation to the level of definitive judgment**.

**”We’ve created a system where one person’s opinion, viewed in slow motion from angles the on-field referee never had, can overrule the flow of the game. That’s not justice. That’s tyranny dressed as technology.”**

**The Integrity Question**

His most devastating charge, however, is reserved for the cumulative effect of these failures on the competition itself. **”The Premier League’s integrity has been broken. Not damaged—broken. When fans across the country believe that outcomes are determined not by the players but by the inconsistencies of a video monitor, you have lost the fundamental trust upon which the sport depends.”**

This is not hyperbole. It is a former insider acknowledging what millions already feel: that the game they love has been surrendered to a process they no longer trust.

**The PGMOL Leadership Under Fire**

The attack on the current PGMOL hierarchy is implicit but unmistakable. Under their stewardship, the former official suggests, VAR has not evolved into a more reliable tool but has instead become more capricious, more controversial, more damaging with each passing season.

**”They’ve had years to fix this. Years to refine the protocols, improve the training, establish genuine consistency. Instead, we get the same apologies, the same ‘human error’ statements, the same rituals of accountability that change nothing. The leadership has failed.”**

**What “Fit for Purpose” Would Look Like**

For the former refereeing chief, a system “fit for purpose” would meet three non-negotiable standards:

1. **Consistency:** Identical situations produce identical outcomes, regardless of the officials involved or the clubs affected.

2. **Transparency:** The decision-making process, including audio from VAR conversations, is immediately available to fans and broadcasters.

3. **Humility:** Technology serves the game, not the other way around. When it cannot provide certainty, it defers to the on-field call.

**The Reckoning Ahead**

The Premier League now faces a choice it can no longer defer. Ignore this attack, and they confirm the cynicism. Respond with platitudes, and they validate the critique. Meaningful reform—of protocols, of personnel, of philosophy—is the only answer that addresses the charge.

Because when a former referee boss declares VAR “no longer fit for purpose,” he is not offering an opinion. He is ringing an alarm that the entire football world can hear. The question is whether those inside the building are finally ready to listen. 📉⚖️🔊