The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel has confirmed three more VAR errors, taking the total number of officiating mistakes recorded this season to 23.
The latest review represents a noticeable rise in Premier League VAR errors compared to the same stage last season, when 17 mistakes had been identified. Despite the increase, the figure remains below the 30 errors recorded during the 2023–24 campaign.
According to the KMI panel, the newly confirmed mistakes mainly involved controversial penalty incidents, including two separate holding offences that officials failed to punish correctly.
One of the major incidents occurred during Everton’s dramatic 3-3 draw against Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Everton were denied a penalty after Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva was judged to have held Merlin Rohl inside the box during a corner kick.
Referee Michael Oliver failed to award a spot-kick, while VAR official Paul Howard reportedly ruled that the holding offence happened before the corner was taken, making it non-reviewable.
However, the KMI panel unanimously disagreed with that interpretation. In its assessment, the panel stated that the holding continued after the ball came into play and should have resulted in a penalty for Everton.
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The decision proved significant as Manchester City later scored a stoppage-time equaliser through Jeremy Doku to secure a point from the encounter.
Everton manager David Moyes reacted angrily after the game, insisting the decision set a dangerous precedent if such incidents were allowed to continue without punishment.
The KMI panel also confirmed another incorrect decision involving Bournemouth’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi was awarded a penalty after going down under slight contact from goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Although referee Rob Jones awarded the penalty and VAR official Peter Bankes upheld the decision, the panel later concluded that the contact was minimal and that the spot-kick should not have stood.
The growing number of Premier League VAR errors has once again sparked widespread debate among clubs, managers and supporters over the consistency and reliability of video assistant referee decisions in English football.
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