Former Premier League referee Neil Swarbrick, who is currently in charge of VAR operations, is reportedly set to retire from his post at the end of a season littered with officiating errors.
The 57-year-old spent over seven years officiating in the Premier League before retiring from on-field duties at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
Since hanging up his whistle, Swarbrick has served as the Premier League's head of VAR implementation and oversaw the introduction of technology to the top flight for the 2019-20 season.
While the use of technology to stamp out clear and obvious errors has been praised by some, officials on VAR duty have come under constant criticism for a number of high-profile mistakes.
Swarbrick himself recently came under fire during West Ham United's draw with Chelsea on February 11, where Tomas Soucek handled the ball inside the penalty area during the dying embers.
The incident was missed by on-field referee Craig Pawson, and Swarbrick - who was on VAR duty - decided not to intervene, leading to his dismissal from the next round of fixtures.
According to The Athletic, Swarbrick is to step down from his position at the end of the season, although his decision is not thought to be down to this season's catalogue of errors.
Instead, Swarbrick is simply said to have planned a natural retirement for some time, and his departure will represent a second notable exit from the PGMOL ranks within the space of a few months.
Earlier this month, the refereeing body announced that Lee Mason - the first Premier League official solely dedicated to VAR duties - had left his position by mutual consent following a major error in Arsenal's clash with Brentford, which happened on the same day as the Soucek incident.
The Gunners drew 1-1 with the Bees, whose equaliser through Ivan Toney should not have stood due to Christian Norgaard being in an offside position, but Mason inexplicably missed the offence.
An apology was issued to Arsenal by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, and Mason's exit was confirmed by the PGMOL in a statement just six days later.
"PGMOL can confirm that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason has departed the organisation by mutual consent," the statement read.
"Lee was a Premier League referee for 15 years and oversaw 287 top-flight matches during that time, with his last coming during the closing stages of the 2021-22 season.
"His full career in the professional game saw the 51-year-old officiate in over 500 fixtures after he progressed to the Football League in 1998. We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the beautiful game and wish him all the best for the future."
VAR was once again at the centre of controversy during Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, where Hakim Ziyech was initially given a red card for a shove on Emerson Royal.
Stuart Attwell sent Ziyech off before taking a look at the monitor, and upon seeing that the Moroccan aimed for Emerson's shoulder before inadvertently catching his face, he downgraded the punishment to a yellow card.
The bewildering incident sparked further criticism of Premier League referees, but Tottenham assistant coach Cristian Stellini praised Attwell for his handling of the episode. body check tags ::
