The Premier League will this season allow conversations between players and referees to be heard during live broadcasts for the first time. Fans will be able to hear audio via the Premier League's domestic TV rights holders, Sky Sports and TNT Sports.
Expansion of RefCam system
It comes as part of an expansion of the RefCam system. Last season, referees trialled head-mounted cameras which could be used by broadcasters, allowing them to have near-instant replays from their point of view.
Under the terms of the previous agreement, however, the audio captured by the cameras wasn't to be televised during a live broadcast. Instead, clips containing audio would be released several days after the match.
New regulations and limitations
Now, according to The Guardian, the regulations will be relaxed this season and there'll be a limited use of RefCam during live broadcasts. Only one or two incidents from each of the Premier League's 38 match rounds are expected to be shown.
The audio will not be heard live, nor will incidents that are referred to VAR be broadcast due to the laws of the game. In total, the number of televised matches featuring RefCam will increase from 20 to around 45.
Trials and lobbying
Games on the opening weekend of the season won't include the audio experiment, with a trial needing to take place first. The Premier League and refereeing body Pro Ref, formerly known as PGMOL, are understood to be lobbying the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to relax existing rules which prevent live audio from being broadcast.
It's hoped that the ability to hear conversations involving referees will help improve the level of understanding between fans and match officials. Former Premier League referee Anthony Taylor spoke last week about the 'intense' pressure and 'constant' scrutiny facing his peers.
Referee perspective
Taylor, who retired after this summer's World Cup, told BBC Sport: "Any referee will be lying to you if they said that pressure or that scrutiny did not bother them, because that's a natural human reaction. One of the challenges that referees face at every level is actually understanding the challenges that we face.
"Fear of making mistakes, external opinion, spectators, managers, parents, media, colleagues. All these things feed into creating self-doubt, lacking confidence, and then things can spiral out of control and you lose the ability to actually have any confidence in what you're doing on the field."
