The Premier League’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has a huge sway on decisions made by the on-field referee, and they do so a long way away from the centre of the action.
VAR, introduced to England’s top division in 2019, has not been without controversy, often criticised for taking too long and, in the view of some, getting unnecessarily involved in certain scenarios.
But where do VAR officials make their decisions?
Where is the Premier League’s VAR hub?
All VAR teams, for every Premier League game, operate from Stockley Park, a business estate in west London.
The estate is situated just north of Heathrow Airport and the Premier League officials neighbour offices for Marks & Spencer, Canon and Ribena.
A behind-the-scenes video, produced by refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) last year, takes you inside the venue, showing its sleek, vibrant interior.
The facility, alongside boasting a screen-to-wall ratio fit to make any cinema jealous, also contains classrooms, an on-site gym, a recovery zone and a canteen.
Speaking about the venue, Premier League referee Peter Bankes said: “What we’re seeing today is beyond my wildest dreams in terms of facilities. The hub itself is fantastic, as you can tell it’s quite futuristic and very professional.”
In each VAR room on any given matchday, there will be a primary VAR, an assistant VAR and a replay operator, who work together to identify and officiate on-field situations and feed their findings back to the main referee on the ground.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, the office at Stockley Park looks like an incredibly nice place to work, and has everything officials could possibly need to enter a game in the best frame of mind to make accurate calls.
For those not so keen on the technological enforcers, that may only open up more questions about what’s going on a matchday.
