The Premier League will make public the full findings of its Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel on referee and video assistant referee decisions for the first time, beginning with the 2026-27 season. The move forms part of a broader transparency drive that also includes publishing direct explanations from match officials and broadcasting selected audio from RefCam footage. Until now, the panel's assessments have been kept confidential, despite frequent leaks from clubs seeking to justify their own complaints about officiating.
The KMI Panel has operated since the 2022-23 season, reviewing major incidents each week and voting on whether decisions were correct. Feedback has historically been shared privately with clubs and officials, but the league says releasing the full document will give supporters a clearer picture of how decisions are scrutinised.
How will fans hear directly from officials?
Selected quotes from referees and video assistant referees will now appear on the Premier League's Match Centre account on X, on the league's website and via its app, offering the reasoning behind specific calls. This replaces the previous approach, where only a general summary of an incident was issued rather than the official's own explanation. The change means supporters could see a referee's stated justification for awarding a decision, or a VAR's direct reasoning for choosing not to intervene.
What will RefCam broadcasts include?
The league is also expanding its use of RefCam to include, for the first time, audio of exchanges between the referee and players during matches. This will not be shown live, and conversations between the referee and the VAR will remain excluded, but the clips are expected to feature once or twice in each round of fixtures. According to a report from Yahoo Sports, domestic broadcasters Sky Sports and TNT Sports are set to carry these RefCam clips with live audio of on-field referee-player exchanges, marking the first time such audio has been broadcast in this way, even though VAR-related conversations still cannot be aired live under current International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules.
Why is live VAR communication still restricted?
Despite the new measures, IFAB continues to prohibit the live broadcast of discussions between referees and the VAR, limiting how far the Premier League can go in opening up the review process. The league has confirmed it will keep pressing IFAB to allow greater sharing of VAR communication with supporters, though no timeline for a rule change has been set.
The league's newly published 2026-27 "Football Principles" document, cited by the Premier League's official site, states that the high threshold required for VAR intervention will remain unchanged this season, while confirming that lobbying IFAB for expanded live audio access remains a priority. The same document notes that in a summer 2026 survey, 85% of respondents backed open and transparent VAR communication, 80% supported live audio and footage around refereeing decisions, 68% supported live audio during VAR reviews specifically, and 72% supported referees making announcements after VAR reviews are completed.
How does the KMI Panel reach its verdicts?
The panel meets weekly to examine contentious incidents, from goals and penalties to red cards, and consists of five members: three former players and coaches, alongside one representative each from the Premier League and the referees' body, Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL). It was established by Premier League clubs in 2022 specifically to remove performance monitoring from the refereeing body's sole control.
The panel does not judge incidents purely as a fan or manager might. Instead, it applies the laws of the game alongside the standards the Premier League expects officials to meet, which explains why its list of acknowledged errors is often shorter than supporters might anticipate. It first evaluates the on-field referee's decision before assessing the VAR's involvement separately, since the VAR operates to a stricter "clear and obvious" threshold. This can result in outcomes where the panel concludes the referee erred but the VAR was still right not to step in. The panel also reviews incidents that fall outside VAR's remit, such as missed second yellow cards, and reaches its verdicts by simple majority.
Figures reviewed by broadcast media show 25 VAR errors were recorded last season, up from 18 in 2024-25, though both totals remain well below the 31 errors logged in 2023-24 and 38 in 2022-23. Each verdict is accompanied by panel members' reasoning, and the results also feed into performance-related payments made to referees at the end of each season. Illustrating how contested some of these verdicts can be, a report from The Mag noted a 3-2 split decision in March 2026 over whether Newcastle United's Jacob Ramsey should have been sent off.
Separately, The Athletic reported in April 2026 that the KMI Panel's reflections stood as the only formal record of officiating assessments from the entire 2025-26 season. Not every governing body has taken the same approach, however: according to a national broadcaster's football coverage, the Scottish FA scrapped its own key match incident panel in August 2026, moving in the opposite direction from the Premier League's expanded transparency measures.
What happens next?
The Premier League has said discussions with IFAB will continue in an effort to secure permission for wider sharing of referee and VAR communication, though the league has not indicated when such a change might be agreed. Meanwhile, the rollout of RefCam clips with player-referee audio is set to begin from the opening rounds of the 2026-27 season, with one or two such moments expected to feature in domestic broadcasts each fixture round.
- The KMI Panel's full verdicts will be published for the first time this season, having previously been kept private since the panel's creation in 2022-23.
- Selected direct quotes from referees and VARs will appear on the Premier League's Match Centre, website and app.
- RefCam audio of referee-player exchanges will be broadcast by Sky Sports and TNT Sports, though not live and without VAR conversations.
- Last season recorded 25 VAR errors, up from 18 the previous year but still far below the 38 recorded in 2022-23.
- A 2026 survey found 85% support for transparent VAR communication and 80% support for live audio around refereeing decisions.
