The key point is post-match review publication—not live audio release
The Premier League will expand explanations of referee and VAR decisions from the 2026/27 season. The most notable change is that KMI panel findings will be published weekly on the Premier League website and app.
The KMI panel is an independent body introduced in the 2022/23 season. It has reviewed major decision-making incidents as part of the officiating evaluation process. Assessments that fans have previously encountered only through isolated reports or controversies will become regularly published information in the 2026/27 season.
What will be published is not every live VAR conversation, but the KMI panel’s post-match review findings.
What does the KMI panel assess?
According to the Premier League, the KMI panel reviews penalties, red cards, offside decisions and other major incidents under the referee’s jurisdiction. The panel assesses whether each decision was correct or incorrect.
The panel’s composition is also publicly available. It consists of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one Pro Ref representative. In other words, major incidents are reviewed after the match jointly by people with experience of the game and representatives of the league and refereeing operations, rather than being decided solely within the refereeing organization.
Information card: KMI publication process
- A major decision-making incident occurs during a match
- The KMI panel conducts a post-match review
- The decision is assessed as correct or incorrect
- Findings will be published weekly on the website and app from the 2026/27 season
VAR transparency will expand, but the limitations remain
The Premier League said it would expand referee and VAR explanations in the 2026/27 season through the Match Centre, stadium announcements, Ref Cam and Match Officials Mic’d Up. The aim is to increase the information channels available to fans seeking to understand officiating situations.
However, expanding Ref Cam audio does not mean that live VAR audio or in-match audio will be released. The Premier League explained that, under IFAB restrictions, live or in-match VAR audio is not included.
This distinction matters. The change is closer to strengthening decision explanations and post-match review publication than to fully opening up referee audio.
The scope of VAR application will also be adjusted in some areas for 2026/27
The Premier League’s VAR principles for the 2026/27 season will continue to follow a high threshold for intervention. VAR is described as a system that changes the referee’s decision only when there is a clear and obvious error.
One notable new point concerns dismissals resulting from a second caution. In the 2026/27 season, a VAR review will apply only where the second caution was clearly incorrect. By contrast, the Premier League said it would not adopt the option under the IFAB’s selectable regulations to review incorrectly awarded corners using VAR.
| Item | Premier League explanation for the 2026/27 season |
|---|---|
| VAR intervention threshold | The referee’s decision is changed when there is a clear and obvious error |
| Dismissal for a second caution | VAR review applies only when the second caution was clearly incorrect |
| Incorrectly awarded corner | The VAR review option will not be adopted |
| Live VAR audio | Not included in the expansion of Ref Cam audio |
Why is this making headlines now?
The KMI panel is already a body that has assessed post-match decisions involving dismissals and penalties in specific matches. In reports published in April and May 2026, the BBC described cases in which the KMI panel assessed the second-caution incident in Sunderland versus Tottenham and a penalty not awarded in Everton versus Manchester City.
The significance of this change lies less in the panel’s existence than in how its findings will be published. Under the Premier League’s 2026/27 policy announced on August 18, 2026, KMI panel findings will become information available weekly on the official website and app.
It cannot be said definitively that decision controversies will disappear. However, the ability for fans to check post-match assessments of major decision-making incidents on a regular basis represents a notable change in the Premier League’s officiating transparency policy.
Sources checked
- Premier League, “Premier League to offer enhanced referee and VAR communications this season”, published August 18, 2026, checked August 27, 2026
- Premier League, “How the Laws of the Game are changing in 2026/27 Premier League”, published August 17, 2026, checked August 27, 2026
- The IFAB, “Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol”, checked August 27, 2026
- The Guardian, report on the Premier League’s officiating transparency measures, published August 19, 2026, checked August 27, 2026
- BBC Sport, two reports on KMI panel decision cases, published April 24 and May 15, 2026, checked August 27, 2026