Keith Hackett explains why Premier League can't match 'very clever' World Cup VAR accuracy

The Premier League are unlikely to reach the heights of the 2026 World Cup's technology due to their partnership with Puma.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that Adidas are way ahead of the curve when it comes to goal-line technology.

This became evident during the clash between Tunisia and Japan, when the former were saved from going further behind, thanks to an accurate chip in the ball.

FIFA's connected-ball technology sends data 500 times per second to the video operation room, allowing the sensor to detect the exact kick point, helping VAR with offside and the awarding of goals.

In Japan's win, goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen managed to claw a deflected shot off the line, with FIFA's graphic showing that there were just millimetres in the decision.

While the Premier League has continued to invest in its technology across the board, supporters have been simply dumbfounded by VAR's accuracy at the 2026 World Cup.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee explained how the Premier League's deal with Puma is holding the technology back.

"The difficulty that lots of leagues around the world face, the Premier League and Football League in particular, is they have a deal with Puma," he said.

"What Adidas have been very clever at is in their development. Remember that when companies start to develop technology, there's a great deal of investment that has to go in to pay for it.

"And what Adidas did, very cleverly, but not unsurprisingly from a business background, is to register that system so that no others could use it for a number of years.

"So it's got its license, it's got all its patents in place so another ball supplier is not going to have access to that unless they develop a similar system."

While the technology is falling behind, the Premier League have made some key changes ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

One of the biggest changes will be that players receiving treatment must leave the field for a full minute before returning to the action, which is currently being tested at the World Cup.

Also coming into effect will be five-second countdowns on throw-ins and goal-kicks, which should help with time-wasting across the division.

And another major change to VAR's influence is that second yellows, resulting in a red card, can be checked and possibly overturned.

Some of these changes will be liked by the supporters, while other may argue that increased intervention from VAR is only ever going to be negative.