Referees must stop relying on VAR – Clattenburg

Former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg says referees “have a responsibility” to get back to trusting their own decisions and “not rely on VAR”.

The Premier League and referees chief Howard Webb said there would be fewer video assistant referee interventions this season, with more support for a referee’s judgment and quicker decisions as they look to make improvements to the system.

Clattenburg was appointed Nottingham Forest’s referee analyst in February, but stepped down in May, amid focus on his critical comments of some referees.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Clattenburg said: “The referees have a responsibility, starting this weekend, to get as many decisions right on the field and not rely on VAR. Then VAR will work every so many games, not once or twice a game as we saw last season.

“What I found (last season) was the referees weren’t making the split-second decisions like they used to do and it was going to VAR.

“VAR was then saying there isn’t the line of intervention where I want to come in because the referee isn’t clearly wrong.

“So you get these inconsistencies and anger from the fans.

“The biggest message I got from the statements Howard and his team is they want the referees to go back and give the decisions.”

In May, Wolves triggered a vote to scrap VAR amid growing anger and frustration at the standard of refereeing and impact of technology on football last season.

They lost the vote, but the Premier League promised to improve VAR.

This season the top flight has put more importance on the ‘referees’ call’ and wants VAR to only intervene on subjective decisions, if that call is a clear and obvious error.

It was also announced this week that the Premier League Match Centre would post “near-live” explanations of VAR decisions on X for fans.

“There had to be some steps going forward because what we saw last year was a lot of upset, a lot of complaints,” said Clattenburg.

“Last season I could see, in depth, the refereeing standard. It was very difficult for Howard when he loses experienced referees in a short period of time.

“What I did see, to counteract that, was some very good young referees. You could see the talent. But like young footballers making mistakes, young referees are going to make mistakes.

“What I felt was needed was, when you have a young referee, you needed an experienced VAR to support them.

“At the moment we have only two or three referees on the biggest matches.

“Anthony Taylor, one of the best referees in the Premier League, is going to referee the biggest match of the weekend (Chelsea v Manchester City) and that happens most weeks with him and Michael Oliver. That’s a big ask for a referee to be refereeing these matches week in, week out.”

Clattenburg dismissed any issue with Webb who said this week he was “disappointed” with some of his former colleague’s comments during his time at the City Ground.

He was criticised for his column in the Daily Mail, in which he called the decisions in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Everton in April a “joke”.

Forest felt they had three penalty decisions wrongly rejected which sparked a controversial social media post on X from the club’s official account calling into question the appointment of “Luton fan” Stuart Attwell as the VAR.

Clattenburg was handed a formal warning by the Football Association for his comments while boss Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams were fined and warned on Thursday for what they said after the game.

“No, there’s no hatchet to bury. I’m always open if Howard wants to speak. I’ve got a lot of advice and I’m very experienced,” he said.

“I’m an ex-referee and I’m allowed to speak and offer my opinion.

“What Howard has done was acknowledge his processes weren’t in place last season and there will be more transparency around the appointments. Where people originate, where they live and work.

“When you make an appointment like that (Attwell), it can always backfire. It was something which could have been avoided and should have been avoided.

“I know Howard’s role because I’ve been there myself and I know how difficult being a head of refereeing is.”

Clattenburg said there was “no regret from my side” over taking the Forest role.

“I supported the owner (Evangelos Marinakis), he is a passionate person who wants Nottingham Forest to do well. In my short time I offered some value,” he added.

“I was getting personally attacked by individuals on social media and on TV and it seemed to be a direct attack. Once I’d left, those attacks seemed to stop. It was a good decision to resign because it took the pressure away from the football club.

“The FA didn’t make any charge because I was doing my job I was employed to do with the Daily Mail.

“I know the feeling, no-one likes criticism, but referees are not immune. We have to accept criticism and the only way you remove criticism is performing at the very top.

“The referees getting upset because of me saying the decision was wrong, they need to go back and work harder to get the decisions right.

“Unfortunately last season I don’t think we had that many opportunities to praise the good work a lot of referees do because last season there were too many negatives.”