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Premier League clubs may decide to drop VAR for remaining matches of 2019-20 season

There have been suggestions to drop the VAR for the remaining matches as it is being believed that it would be easier to plan the return of Premier League.

Premier League clubs may decide to drop VAR for remaining matches of 2019-20 season

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Moroccan midfielder Romain Saiss (C) sends a shot high over the bar during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England, on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

English Premier League clubs are likely to debate the use of the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) for the remaining part of the season if it resumes after the International Football Association Board (IFAB) gave the organisers of each competition the right to do so.

According to a report by English outlet The Guardian, there have been suggestions to drop the VAR for the remaining matches of the season as it is being believed that it would be easier to plan the resumption of the league that way. However, it has not been proved if scrapping the use of VAR can be a logistical benefit.

Officials from all the 20 clubs will hold a video conference meeting on Monday next week where a decision about the VAR could be taken. The meeting will see the clubs talking about another IFAB suggestion – whether or not to allow five substitutions in a match.

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However, the meeting would be held with the primary hope to discuss various proposals that have been laid out under ‘Project Restart’ which aims to see the Premier League making a return by June.

The Project Restart states that all players and required staff must be tested twice for the novel coronavirus and given a medical clearance before entering the training ground as the Premier League plans to resume training from May 18.

According to a report last week by The Times, the football chiefs and officials of other sport governing bodies are in touch with the British government to decide from when they can start staging the sporting fixtures which are currently on hold due to the situation caused by the novel coronavirus.

A BBC report had earlier also stated that the clubs were likely to put June 30 as the deadline to decide if the 2019-20 season would continue or be scrapped amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought all forms of professional football into a standstill in the United Kingdom and in most parts of Europe.

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