Match Officials Mic'd Up: How to watch PGMOL explain Premier League VAR decisions on TV and live stream

Ex-Premier League referee Howard Webb and Michael Owen may not be the most headline-grabbing TV double act but the duo's show could make for a fascinating watch.

The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited - the governing body for referees in England) has sanctioned the release of audio between referees and their video-assisted counterparts (VAR) over the course of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.

As PGMOL's first chief refereeing officer, Webb will talk Owen - whose credentials for selection are unknown - through a series of decisions in a 26-minute programme called Match Officials Mic'd Up.

On the weekend before the first broadcast of the 2023/24 campaign, Manchester City were the beneficiaries of a truly baffling offside decision that left Fulham manager Marco Silva raging and even earned the sympathy of Erling Haaland.

The contentious calls have only increased over the subsequent weeks and months. Here's everything you need to know about a chance to earn some insight into the decision-making process of officials.

Have PGMOL released VAR audio from the Premier League before?

This is not the first rendition of the Webb-Owen partnership. On 15 May 2023, Match Officials Mic'd Up was unveiled on the Premier League's in-house channel. Owen's wooden expression soaked up Webb's intriguing explanation of why Newcastle United had a penalty overturned against Arsenal earlier that month.

On the same day, a much wider audience saw Webb go on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football to walk Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher through five refereeing decisions across the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

Both pundits were not alone in enjoying the novelty of hearing referees communicate amid the fury of a top-flight match, clearly and curtly explaining their reasoning. While the VAR audio debut largely served as a self-congratulatory exercise, Webb did admit that Brentford were wrongly awarded a penalty against Bournemouth in January 2023 after the officials at Stockley Park failed to spot an offensive foul in the buildup.

When will Match Officials Mic'd Up be aired?

The first episode of Match Officials Mic'd Up for the 2023/24 season was broadcast in the UK on Tuesday 5 September.

On the show's seasonal debut, Webb admitted that Nathan Ake's header for Manchester City against Fulham that month should not have stood. While providing intriguing nuggets elsewhere, MOMU was received warmly and has since been released on a monthly basis.

Referees make an average of 245 decisions per game, giving Webb and Owen around 10,000 opportunities for scrutiny on each episode.

The need for an open dialogue with referees is abundantly evident. Earlier this season, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag vehemently rejected the accuracy of the video technology when Alejandro Garnacho's strike was ruled out for offside against Arsenal. "That is the wrong angle," the Dutchman argued, demonstrating a basic misunderstanding of how VAR makes its offside decisions.

This season's second episode was unveiled on Tuesday 10 October, giving Webb the opportunity to dissect the muddled communication which resulted in Luis Diaz's wrongly disallowed goal for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur.

The third instalment of the series drops on Tuesday 14 November. The latest release will revolve around Anthony Gordon's hotly controversial winner for Newcastle United against Arsenal. Mikel Arteta labelled the decision as "embarrassing" and "a disgrace" but fans will be able to judge for themselves when the VAR audio is played on Tuesday's episode.

How to watch Match Officials Mic'd Up on TV and live stream in the UK?

Why can't VAR audio be played during games?

Fans interested in the inner workings of Premier League refereeing decisions could be spared Owen's banality if VAR audio was broadcast during matches. As the commentators regularly reference from the gantry, they are privy to the discussions of the officials in real-time.

When a decision is reviewed by the TMO in rugby union, television viewers can earwig the conversation.

However, Webb explained that this practice cannot be replicated in the Premier League during his appearance on Sky. "We can’t play it live in-game," Webb revealed. "That's not allowed within the laws of the game. FIFA don't allow us to play this out during the game."

Yet, the former official wondered aloud: "Who knows where that might go in the future. But there’s nothing to stop us doing what we’re doing tonight and showing that information later."

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