Survey

There is little prospect of VAR being removed from the Premier League, or having its remit reduced.

In 2024, 19 out of 20 top-flight clubs voted to keep VAR, with only Wolves voting against, having proposed the poll themselves.

In order for VAR to be scrapped, 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs would have to vote against it following a new proposal for abolition by a club.

The independent key match incident (KMI) review panel estimates there has been an accuracy rate of 96-97% for refereeing decisions made in Premier League matches since the introduction of VAR, while time delays caused by VAR have dropped by 25% in the past two seasons.

This year an FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and Newcastle United, which did not have VAR, featured three significant refereeing errors, leading it to being labelled the best advert yet for the technology.

The Premier League said: “VAR delivers more correct decisions.

“In recent seasons, there have been around 100 correct VAR overturns per season – instances where goals would otherwise have been incorrectly awarded or disallowed, or red cards or penalties missed or wrongly given.

“The league applies a high threshold for VAR intervention, with the referee’s call taking precedence. As a result, VAR is less intrusive in the Premier League than in other European leagues, including the Champions League, where VAR intervenes almost twice as often.”

But the FSA believes the results of its survey should be listened to and acted upon.

“Supporters naturally raise their concerns and they fall on deaf ears far too much,” Concannon says.

“That’s really disappointing, especially when all we hear is that the fans are the lifeblood of the game.

“Don’t just ignore what supporters are telling you in great numbers – that the enjoyment of football isn’t there any more in comparison to what it used to be.”

March 11 (Asia Today) — Nearly half of South Korean high school students are using artificial intelligence to help them study, a survey showed, as the government moves to expand AI education in public schools.

According to a survey conducted by education company Jinaksa of 3,525 high school students nationwide, 47.7% said they use AI for studying at least once a week.

The most common usage frequency was once or twice per week at 25.2%. Another 14.4% said they use AI three times or more each week, while 8.1% reported using it almost daily.

Meanwhile, 22.7% said they never use AI for studying, and 29.6% said they use it only once or twice a month.

Students most frequently used AI to ask for explanations of unfamiliar concepts, accounting for 49.7% of responses. Other common uses included help solving problems at 29.0%, summarizing notes or reading passages at 27.9% and requesting feedback on answers at 17.4%.

The findings suggest students are not using AI simply to find correct answers but increasingly treat it as a question-based learning tool that explains concepts and helps guide problem-solving.

Education officials are also expanding artificial intelligence education in public schools.

The Ministry of Education said it has designated 1,141 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide as “AI focus schools” in cooperation with 17 regional education offices.

These schools will integrate AI-related lessons across subjects and expand interdisciplinary programs that combine artificial intelligence with existing curricula. Schools will also strengthen ethics education to encourage responsible use of AI and provide activities such as AI clubs and hands-on learning programs.

The ministry plans to gradually expand the program to 1,500 schools by 2027 and 2,000 schools by 2028.

Woo Yeon-cheol, director of the admissions strategy research institute at Jinaksa, said students are increasingly using AI as a form of “digital tutoring.”

“Students are not simply using AI to complete assignments,” Woo said. “They are using it to ask questions about concepts they do not understand and to check the direction of problem solving.”

He added that the ability to ask questions anytime and receive immediate explanations is helping AI become a new learning support tool.

Woo also noted that even as the government moves to expand AI-based education in schools, students have already been adapting quickly to AI-driven learning environments outside the classroom.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260311010003167