Every week, the Premier League's Key Match Incident (KMI) Panel convenes to scrutinise the major officiating decisions from the previous round of fixtures — covering everything from goals and penalties to red cards.
What the KMI Panel is and how it began
Premier League clubs established the KMI Panel in 2022, with the explicit aim of taking refereeing performance statistics out of the hands of the officiating body itself. The panel is not designed to assess incidents the way a supporter or manager might; instead, it applies the laws of the game alongside the specific standards the Premier League sets for its referees.
That distinction is important. It means the list of officially recorded errors will typically be shorter than many fans would expect.
How decisions are reviewed
The panel first evaluates the on-field referee's call, then turns its attention to the VAR's response. Because VAR operates to a higher threshold — requiring a decision to be clear and obvious before intervening — there are cases where the panel concludes the referee was wrong, yet the VAR was correct to stay out of it.
A useful illustration: a referee awards a penalty that many disagree with, but others can see the logic behind it. In that scenario, the panel may record the on-field decision as incorrect while also finding that the error did not meet the VAR threshold for intervention. Second yellow cards — whether missed or shown in error — also fall within the panel's remit.
What happens with the results
Findings are published one week after each panel meeting concludes, approximately 10 days after the final match of the relevant round. Each reviewed incident is assigned a difficulty rating, and the cumulative results feed into a merit table that directly affects referee salaries — officials ranked lower on that table receive only a modest bonus payment.
The panel's findings also shape policy discussions. This season, for example, the deliberations contributed to a relaxation of the rules around red cards for hair-pulling.
How impartiality is maintained
The panel comprises five members — three former players and coaches, one Premier League representative, and one from Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref) — but membership rotates each week. The Premier League keeps the identities of panellists anonymous, arguing that this rotation helps preserve impartiality across decisions.
Scotland's short-lived equivalent
The Scottish Football Association launched its own Key Match Incident Review Panel in September 2024, structured along similar lines: five members drawn from ex-coaches, former players, and Scottish football media, alongside one representative each from the Scottish FA and SPFL clubs.
However, the SFA discontinued the panel at the start of this season after clubs withdrew from the process. Dundee United were the first to step back, in February 2025, citing doubts about the panel's
