Premier League To Test Ref Cams On First Weekend With View To Permanent Rollout

The Premier League is readying to trial Ref Cams successful selected matches during their opening information of fixtures this play pinch a position to making nan caller exertion a imperishable characteristic of unrecorded TV games for nan remainder of nan season.

The Guardian has learned that nan clubs person fixed their support for nan proceedings pinch nan Premier League’s broadcast partners, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, besides supporting nan innovation.

Fifa trialled Ref Cams astatine this summer’s Club World Cup successful nan United States, pinch nan chair of their refereeing committee Pierluigi Collina saying nan research had gone “beyond expectations”.

Following a post-tournament reappraisal nan International Football Association Board (Ifab), which determines nan laws of nan game, gave their support for nan Ref Cam proceedings to beryllium extended to home competitions past month. The Premier League subsequently trialled nan caller instrumentality successful nan last 2 matches of their pre-season Summer Series tourney successful nan US, betwixt Bournemouth and West Ham, and Manchester United and Everton successful Atlanta.

The Premier League and broadcasters person embraced nan caller exertion arsenic they judge it enriches nan viewer’s TV acquisition by giving them a unsocial position of nan action. While nan Ref Cams do not connection unrecorded action footage, they tin beryllium utilized to supply near-instant replays of lucifer incidents from a different angle.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited, nan refereeing body, is besides supportive connected nan grounds that Ref Cams will springiness an other penetration into nan trouble of refereeing top-flight matches, arsenic good arsenic highlighting nan truth that officials sometimes person a constricted position of important incidents contempt their champion efforts.

Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella pinch nan Club World Cup. Ref Cams were utilized during nan summertime competition. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA

Ref Cam exertion involves referees wearing cameras connected their correct ear, connected to a microphone and transmitter, which sends video to nan broadcasters. Two wires – 1 for nan camera and nan different for a microphone – are put connected nan backmost of nan referee’s garment and a transmitter is placed successful a shorts pocket.

PGMOL has been looking to innovate successful this area for immoderate time, pinch Jarred Gillett wearing a head-mounted Ref Cam during a Premier League lucifer betwixt Crystal Palace and Manchester United successful a proceedings past year, though nan footage was only broadcast successful highlights programmes astatine a later date. The Premier League besides trialled chest-mounted GoPro cameras successful its US Summer Series 2 years agone without broadcasting nan action during matches.

At nan Club World Cup, nan Ref Cam footage was shown connected large screens astatine nan stadiums, arsenic good arsenic being broadcast by world authorities holder Dazn during nan games, which nan Premier League want to replicate. Having been impressed by nan Club World Cup trial, Fifa is expected to o.k. nan usage of Ref Cams for adjacent summer’s World Cup.

The Premier League declined to comment.