What is the Premier League’s KMI Panel and how does it work?

Image source, Getty Images

How does the KMI Panel remain impartial?

While the KMI Panel consists of five people, they are not the same people each week and are selected on a rotational basis.

The Premier League keeps the identities of those involved anonymous, but we do know that each panel consists has five members: three former players and coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref).

By rotating who is involved each week, the Premier League feels that this helps to maintain impartiality across decisions.

What happened to Scotland’s KMI Panel?

In a similar fashion to the Premier League, the Scottish Football Association introduced their own Key Match Incident Review Panel in September 2024.

It was composed in similar fashion to the Premier League, with five members – three ex-coaches, former players and/or members of the Scottish football media, plus one representative from the Scottish FA and one from SPFL clubs.

But at the start of this season, the SFA opted to discontinue the KMI Panel. This was due to clubs withdrawing from sending representatives to be involved in the reviews.

Dundee United were the first to pull out in February 2025, citing concerns over the panel’s “purpose, effectiveness and impact on Scottish football”.

The Tannadice club said “the panel’s outcomes have been inconsistent with feedback provided by the Scottish FA”. That was a reference to the monthly reviews by the SFA head of refereeing Willie Collum, who often disagreed with the panel.

Other clubs are believed to have followed United’s lead from the process ahead of the start of this season.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team. This is a question from Jon in Colchester.