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SPFL clubs vote in favour of VAR as technology to be introduced into Scottish Premiership in December 2022


By Andrew Henderson

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VAR will come to Scotland later this year after SPFL clubs voted almost unanimously to implement the technology in the Scottish Premiership.

All 42 league clubs met today at their general meeting, with 75 per cent of Premiership clubs, Championship clubs and League One and League Two clubs combined needing to cast their ballot in favour of the proposal for it to pass.

The SPFL have confirmed those thresholds were met, with reports circulating that 41 of the 42 clubs voted in favour of the Hawkeye Innovations System, which is already in use across the world including in the neighbouring English Premier League.

That means following the conclusion of the Qatar World Cup in December of this year, the Premiership will resume with a full launch of VAR.

Referees will have the help of VAR in the Scottish Premiership from December of this year. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Referees will have the help of VAR in the Scottish Premiership from December of this year. Picture: Ken Macpherson

Total costs are expected to total £1.2 million per season, with clubs also agreeing to meet that outlay on a sliding scale in the top flight.

The winners of the Scottish Prmeiership will pay approximately £195k per season, with the 12th-placed club contributing around £67k per season.

Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPFL, said: "The SPFL chose not to be an early adopter of VAR technology to allow time for teething issues to be ironed out by those leagues who adopted VAR early.

“I believe this was the right decision and that VAR will help referees to ensure tight decisions are more often the right ones and will support a higher standard and more consistent level of decision-making.

“Scottish referees are fully on-board with this innovation and have been overwhelmingly supportive about the introduction of VAR during our consultation process with our partners at the Scottish FA.”

Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA chief executive, said: “Throughout the consultation process we were encouraged that the principle of VAR was supported by clubs, players, coaches and match officials.

“The benefits of VAR are clear and with the commitment of the Scottish FA, SPFL and now the approval of the league’s 42 member clubs, we can now look forward to continuing the implementation process with a view to VAR being a key part of Scottish football’s future.”

With a scheduled implementation date of December 2022, the SPFL also plans to use VAR in the Premier Sports Cup semi finals and finals in January and February of next year, with further discussions planned regarding its use during earlier rounds in future seasons.



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