Keith Hackett concerned by new Premier League rule after Nottingham Forest incidents

The Premier League have taken a wrong move while attempting to diminish controversy surrounding the awarding of corner kicks.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that further VAR intervention could cause more problems than it solves next season.

Howard Webb and his officials are set to have VAR on their side when correcting the awarding of corners in 2026-27 campaign as part of the FA's set of incoming rules.

This comes after Nottingham Forest were burned, not once, but twice by wrongly awarded corners in back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Manchester United, conceding on both occasions.

Premier League changes too little too late for Nottingham Forest

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee isn't sold on the new rule for the 2026-27 campaign, suggesting that more should be done to fix the problem.

"The first point is this... I think there's some doubt on the conversations that I've read to date that the Premier League will actually introduce that," Hackett said.

"So, that's my first worry. VAR is a second look at an incident covered by broadcast cameras, not specific cameras.

"And the difference that I wanted between what we're going to get if the Premier League adopts is that VAR is a pair of eyes that do does not meet the accuracy that goal line technology reaches.

"Because of the speed of the ball and the speed of broadcast cameras, they are likely to give insufficient accuracy, in my opinion, to these important decisions.

"What I wanted to see, which is a more costly approach, is the extension of the Hawkeye goal line technology model."

PGMOL funding could be root cause of Premier League issues

Supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated by the problems being caused by VAR in the Premier League, and it may just be down to the general training of those who use it.

It was reported in 2024 that the Premier League were facing demands to increase the funding of referees, with the PGMOL being given an annual budget of £25million.

The PGMOL's reserves had fallen from £4million to zero due to rising costs, especially when it comes to training and VAR technology.

That might explain why those behind the scenes can't consider splashing out on specialist cameras for such a small part of the game, such as corner kicks.

Although it is a reasonable reason, it does bring the use of VAR into question, and whether it's worth having an unfinished product at the hands of the PGMOL officials.