French football is set to take a big step towards making referees more accountable as they are set to introduce mic’d up referees during matches.
Referees across Europe currently do not have conversations over their microphones broadcast to regular viewers at home, but French football could be the first major European League to introduce the practice after a number of significant parties backed the proposals for this.
As per French outlet Le Parisien, Amazon Prime Video, one of the primary broadcasters of Ligue 1 have been advocating for the practice to become regular for some time. The suggestion has also received support from the French Football Federation (FFF) and the Technical Arbitration Department (DTA), and only needs to be signed off by IFAB (International Football Association Board), the chief rule makers of football around the world.
A number of fans and pundits have called for the inclusion of mic’d up refs in the Premier League. The move would be seen increase accountability towards officials who many feel get off lightly following a controversial decision.
The inclusion of VAR only served to highlight the poor quality of officiating further, with controversial decisions becoming even more prominent after the VAR system, designed to increase accuracy in decision making, was introduced.
Other sports such as Rugby and American Football already have this system in place, as well as the Australian Football League.
The Premier League could follow suit soon if IFAB sign off on the proposals.
You can see a video below of the type of broadcast we might see if these changes are implemented.