Two Panels, One Red Card, and a League That Cannot Agree on What It Saw

Pascal Struijk's red card at Brighton was overturned by an independent commission. The KMI panel, funded by the Premier League, backed VAR. Two bodies, same footage, opposite conclusions. That is not a process. It is a protection racket with minutes.

When 'Clear and Obvious' Became Whatever the Panel Says It Is

VAR was sold to the Premier League on a single promise: it would correct only clear and obvious errors. The KMI panel was supposed to be the guardian of that threshold. Instead, it has become its most elastic interpreter, bending the definition to fit whatever decision the on-field referee already made.

Consider the Struijk case. The independent commission found the red card wrongful. The KMI panel, stacked with former players and managers, saw enough to support the VAR's intervention. If the threshold were genuinely 'clear and obvious', such a split would be impossible. It is not a threshold. It is a mood.

This is not new. In 2023, the PGMOL admitted VAR got the offside call wrong on Luis Díaz's goal at Tottenham. The KMI panel later split on whether the intervention was correct. When even the governing body cannot agree on its own error, the system is not fine-tuning itself. It is collapsing.

The Case for Abolishing the KMI Panel

The KMI panel was created to provide independent oversight. In practice, it provides independent cover. Its membership is drawn from a pool that includes former referees and players, but its funding comes from the Premier League. That is not independence. That is a consultancy with a conflict of interest.

Worse, its findings are not binding. They carry no weight in appeals. They exist to offer a second opinion that the league can point to when it wants to defend a decision. When it wants to overturn one, it simply ignores the panel and convenes an independent commission. The panel is not a check on power. It is a press release waiting to happen.

  • The Struijk case: independent commission overturns, KMI panel backs VAR. Two panels, two truths, one confused league.
  • The Díaz offside at Tottenham in 2023: PGMOL admits error, KMI panel later splits on whether VAR should have intervened. The panel cannot even agree on its own purpose.
  • The 2022/23 season saw a record number of VAR apologies, yet the KMI panel rarely found a decision 'clearly and obviously' wrong. The threshold only works in one direction.

The Steel Man: 'Independent Commissions Are the Real Check'

The counter-argument is seductive. Independent commissions, not the KMI panel, are the true arbiter of justice. They overturned Struijk's red. They have overturned other wrongful decisions. The panel is just advisory. Why abolish it?

Because advisory bodies with no consequences are not checks. They are noise. The independent commission exists only because clubs can afford to appeal. The KMI panel, funded by the league, offers a veneer of objectivity that the league can deploy selectively. If the panel were truly independent, it would have the power to compel change. Instead, it publishes a verdict that the league can ignore.

The result is a two-tier system: clubs with resources can challenge decisions, while the panel's findings are used to defend the status quo. That is not justice. That is a lottery with a legal team.

The Verdict: The KMI Panel Will Be Abolished Within Three Years

The KMI panel will not survive the next broadcast rights cycle. Its findings will be exposed as inconsistent, its independence will be challenged by clubs, and the Premier League will quietly fold it into a new, binding appeals process. Expect the first club to publicly reject a KMI panel finding by the end of next season.

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