Premier League official Bobby Madley admits that ‘hate’ Var

Judge Bobby Madley openly expressed his hatred of VAR use, claiming to take off his emotional core.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival recently, Madley, which is currently serving in the English Football League and also acts as a fourth official in the Premier League, shared his views from the referee and fans.

“As a fan, hate him, hate him. You love championship, Love League One – I’m still a fan,” Madley said.

“I love the league one because you score a goal, watch the judge, look at the assistant, he did not place his flag, that is the goal.

“That (VAR) takes that emotion from her, and football is a game where he could be in the game, one goal, and that’s it.

“To take away that emotion, that I have to wait and wait, and what feels like eternity, as a fan, I’m not a big fan of that experience.”

Unlike the Premier League, where VAR was fixing from the 2019-20 season, EFL does not implement technology in the regular league game, something Madley apparently appreciates as an official and a fan.

Madley’s official history includes 91 Premier League games between 2013 and 2018, before PGMOL rejected him after a controversial incident involving a video that made a disabled of an individual with disabilities.

Referee Bobby Madley says he “hates” Var because he takes away “emotion” from the game.

“Take this emotion, that I have to wait for what he feels like eternity, as a fan, I’m not a big fan of that experience.” pic.twitter.com/1krmizwr3Q

– BBC Sport (@bbcSport) June 5, 2025

He then moved to Norway and served in the Lower League before returning to English football in 2020.

Although he was given short opportunities to return to the Premier League-Family, one match of the 2022-23 and 2023-24-NI season was elected to the trial of any top games in the 2024-25 campaign.

Madley also referred to the wider implications of VAR’s introduction and how commercial pressures in football could contribute to his adoption.

“There is so much money in football, it is conducted by jobs. So any mistake is thought to cost people,” he added.

“And I think most football fans were over each other to get video technology.

“The players were not, the referees were not, but the people who run football, they are multi -million dollar and billion pounds and had problems with the judges to make things wrong.

“I think we had to on stage where people go,” Sorry, we ruined football with that. “

“But we knew the monster that was created. As judges, we knew what was coming.”