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British Airways PILOTS are called in to help with Premier League’s VAR farce – giving refs tips from dealing with air traffic control to ditch their ‘mate-y’ chat and be clearer in communication

  • The Premier League asked BA pilots to do a presentation for their referees
  • This follows a number of controversial VAR incidents in the top flight this season
  • City-Liverpool is tough to referee… but our campaign is up and running – IAKO

The Premier League have reportedly enlisted the help of British Airways pilots to help VAR officials improve their communication to cut out blunders after a number of high-profile incidents this season.

Liverpool’s Luis Diaz had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside against Tottenham in September after VAR official Darren England mistakenly thought it had been given on the pitch and told the on-field referee to stick with his decision.

The Premier League have now taken the unprecedented measure of bringing in pilots from British Airways to speak to their referees amid a spate of criticism, according to The Times.

Pilots Chris Heaven and Pete Nataraj were keen to emphasise the importance of communication, and encouraged officials to use ‘brief and direct’ language rather than informal dialogue when talking to one another.

This comes after the discussion during the Diaz incident was made public, with the officials referring to each other as ‘boys’ and ‘mate’.

British Airways pilots spoke to VAR officials about improving their communication

This comes after Luis Diaz wrongly had a goal disallowed for offside earlier this season

PGMOL chief Howard Webb (pictured) played a key role in putting the meeting together

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Communication also appeared frantic at times as the Diaz disallowed goal played out, with on-field referee Simon Hooper’s assistant Simon Long shouting ‘give it’, but not making it clear whether he had given the goal or ruled it out for offside.

During their 45-minute presentation, Heaven and Nataraj looked to drum home that communication has to be clear and effective, and that referees must remain calm under pressure.

They also highlighted similarities between their jobs as pilots and the role that referees have on the pitch.

This included filtering out the white noise for take-offs and landings and focusing on what is most important when communicating with air traffic control, particularly if there are potential language barriers when travelling abroad.

PGMOL chief Howard Webb played a key role in putting the meeting between the pilots and referees together, while Jon Moss, the select group director, was also heavily involved in organising the session.

Players, pundits and fans have regularly voiced their concerns about VAR since it was introduced in 2019.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hit out at the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winner for Newcastle against his side earlier this month ‘a disgrace’ following a lengthy VAR check, and has since been charged for his comments.

However, a poll from The Times has revealed that over 75 per cent of people in football want it to remain in place, but the majority want to see changes to the system to make it more effective.

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