DBasia.news – The use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is now in the spotlight in the Premier League due to the pros and cons of the great conversation.
In the ninth week of the Premier League, VAR was again the star of the field. Some controversial decisions have emerged.
Manchester City Pep Guardiola could not cover his annoyance when Kevin De Bruyne fell in the Crystal Palace penalty box after being pushed by Wilfried Zaha. In the match at Selhurst Park Stadium, Guardiola demanded his team get a penalty kick. However, the referee did not grant Guardiola’s request because through the giant screen the VAR showed no violations.
In the Tottenham Hotspur match against Watford, VAR also caused controversy. Watford felt they should get a penalty after Gerald Deulofeu was seen dropped by Jan Vertonghens in the Spurs penalty box, but the referee decided there was no offense.
“It’s a shame. He (Vertonghen) touched Deulofeu two or three times. That should be a penalty. After nine weeks in the Premier League, we only want VAR to function, but it’s not used properly,” Alan Shearer said of the incident.
Still, in Tottenham’s match against Watford, Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores was looking absurdly upset when Spurs broke into his team’s goal through Dele Alli four minutes ahead of dispersal.
After the ball enters the goal, VAR immediately starts previewing. Interestingly for a few moments, the screen inside the stadium showed the word ‘No Goal’, but then changed to “Goal”.
“I thought VAR was objective and should help, but now I feel VAR is a subjective system,” Quique Sanchez Flores was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
The decision of the Premier League to adopt the VAR system this season began to be seen as totally unhelpful for referees. The results shown by the VAR were more often assessed adverse.
There is an interesting note about VAR in the Premier League. Until now there has not been a single penalty given based on VAR.
Another VAR controversy occurred in the eighth week when Liverpool faced Leicester City. At that time Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was furious when Mohamed Salah was hard-pressed by Hamza Choudhury. As a result, Salah suffered an injury.
Klopp was furious because the referee only issued a yellow card to Choudhury. “It’s a violation that can’t be justified. How can he do it because the ball has passed? It’s very dangerous,” Klopp said, assessing Choudhury deserves a red card.
Klopp again triggered his frustration in the ninth week of action against Manchester United. Klopp considered the referee’s decision supported by VAR would benefit Manchester United.
In that match, there were two referees’ decisions supported by VAR. First when validating United’s goal after assessing that there was no offense committed by Victor Lindelof against Divock Origi before the counter-attack which led to Marcus Rashford’s goal.
“This is a problem that we must discuss. I am sure 100 percent of VAR will cancel United’s goal,” Klopp said.
“The referee lets the game go because he has VAR. But VAR then shows it’s not clear. This makes no sense. I’m not angry or anything, but I’m sure referee Martin Atkinson will blow the whistle if there is no VAR.”