The Gunners were leading 1-0 in the 57th minute at the Hill Dickinson Stadium when William Saliba and Everton striker Thierno Barry clashed inside the area.

Barry got to the ball first, but his boot was kicked by Arsenal’s French defender.

The panel voted 3-2 that the on-field decision by referee Sam Barrott to not award a penalty was incorrect.

It also voted 3-2 that video assistant referee (VAR) Michael Salisbury should have sent the match official to the monitor to change his decision.

Three panel members noted “Saliba carelessly kicks Barry with no contact on the ball” and they felt it was a clear and obvious error.

Two panellists supported the no-penalty call because “there was not enough impact and a delayed reaction”.

Everton manager David Moyes was confused why other similar incidents had resulted in spot-kicks.

In particular he referenced a penalty given by the on-field referee to Fulham against Nottingham Forest two days later. The panel unanimously supported this spot-kick decision.

“I was half-choking last night when I saw the decision given [to Fulham] and ours wasn’t,” said Moyes. “It feels as though certain clubs get those decisions and other clubs don’t.”

Each KMI Panel is made up of five members. Three are former players or coaches, plus there is one representative each from the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials.

VAR right over Gordon decision against Chelsea

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Newcastle led 2-1 when Anthony Gordon’s penalty claims were ignored in the 53rd minute

The panel also voted the VAR Peter Bankes was correct not to advise that Newcastle should be given a spot-kick in their match against Chelsea on 20 December.

Head coach Eddie Howe said the Magpies were refused a “stonewall” penalty when Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah barged Anthony Gordon to the ground.

Newcastle led 2-1 at the time, and the game finished 2-2. The club said they would be “seeking clarification” about the decision.

The panel felt referee Andy Madley should have awarded a spot-kick (3-2), but it didn’t reach the threshold for a VAR intervention (3-2).

Those in favour of a penalty said “Chalobah makes no challenge for the ball and makes reckless shoulder, hip and leg contact”.

But those against believed it was “robust shoulder-to-shoulder contact with the ball in playing distance”.

Panel supports Simons dismissal and Ekitike goal

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Liverpool led 2-0 through Hugo Ekitike’s header at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank was furious after his side fell to a 2-1 loss at home to Liverpool on 20 December.

Spurs saw Xavi Simons sent off on a VAR review for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk.

Frank also felt Liverpool’s second goal should have been ruled out for a push by Hugo Ekitike on Cristian Romero.

Spurs captain Romero was then sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time.

The panel delivered unanimous verdicts that the Simons red card and the Ekitike goal were both correct.

On the Ekitike incident it stated “there’s not enough contact for a foul, particularly given the high threshold for penalising contact”.

Romero’s second yellow card was supported 4-1.

Centre-back Micky van de Ven’s attempted block on the shot for Alexander Isak’s goal, which saw the Liverpool striker suffer a broken leg, was not deemed a red-card offence to be considered by the panel as a Key Match Incident.

The club are extremely unhappy with referee Rob Jones’ decisions during Saturday’s 2-1 loss at the City Ground.

Forest have gone to the referees’ body – the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) – to ask to hear the conversations between on-pitch officials and the video assistant referee team during key moments of the match.

Head coach Sean Dyche felt Rayan Cherki’s 83rd-minute winner should have been ruled out for a foul on Morgan Gibbs-White, and that Jones should have shown City defender Ruben Dias a second yellow card after the break.

“Such an easy game to referee, in my opinion, such an easy decision for VAR,” Dyche said on Saturday.

“When you played so well, to come in and have to talk about officials affecting the game – but they clearly did.

“Everyone in the stadium and everyone watching at home could see that.”

Forest players complained to referee Jones, arguing Gibbs-White had been pushed by Nico O’Reilly while defending a corner and therefore stopped from blocking Cherki’s winner.

“Morgan Gibbs-White quite clearly gets pushed to the floor and the same player is involved in blocking the ball,” Dyche said.

“But he can’t block it because as he jumps up, it goes through the bit of his body which he would have blocked it with. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a foul.”

The VAR checked the goal but allowed Jones’ on-field decision to stand. Defeat left Forest five points above the Premier League’s relegation zone.

The PGMOL has previously played audio privately to clubs – including Forest – while PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb also discusses incidents on the Mic’d Up programme.

Regarding City’s decisive goal, Dyche added: “They’ll say, ‘Yeah, the ball wasn’t there’. And you go, ‘OK, so if the ball’s not near the keeper and you push the keeper to the floor, is that going to be a foul then?’

“We all know it is. I can’t work it out. And then they score from it, which is the double whammy.

“I’m a big fan of VAR – I can’t work out how you can’t get that right.”

Former official Darren Cann told BBC Match of the Day: “The video assistant referee naturally checked the goal and concluded that no ‘clear and obvious’ error was made. I agree.

“This was a decision that will split views – some will agree it’s a good goal and others will think it was a foul. Therefore the ‘referee’s call’ of goal should stand.”

Forest have previously been unhappy with Jones when he sent off Willy Boly against Bournemouth two years ago which prompted then-boss Nuno Espirito Santo to call for VAR to intervene on second yellow cards.

Last season, Jones sent off Nuno for dissent at Brighton with the Portuguese charged by the Football Association.

The ‘Out of Bounds’ innovation is one of a series which were tested in three Intercontinental Cup matches in Qatar this month.

Fifa has also expanded ‘Real-time 3D Recreation’ to make line-of-sight judgements for offsides quicker and clearer.

There are two virtual feeds, available to the video assistant referee (VAR) and TV viewers, which replicate the perspectives of both goalkeepers.

The new technologies have been developed by Fifa and Hawk-Eye Innovations. It remains to be seen if they would become available to domestic leagues.

How the new technology could clear up controversies

The Premier League has produced many controversial incidents in recent seasons which this technology could have helped resolve.

Two seasons ago Arsenal were furious when VAR ruled Joe Willock had kept the ball in play before Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the game for Newcastle. The VAR did not have the necessary camera angle to prove the ball was out.

There have been several ‘line of sight’ offside incidents this season. When Eberechi Eze scored for Arsenal against Tottenham last month there were claims Leandro Trossard was blocking Guglielmo Vicario’s view of the ball.

The ‘Out of Bounds’ technology uses the same tracking data points and configurations as advanced semi-automated offside.

It is still only in offline testing but was provided with the opportunity to show how reliable it was in Qatar.

Paris St-Germain’s Fabian Ruiz had a goal ruled out through VAR in the Intercontinental Cup final against Flamengo because the ball had gone out.

Fifa also held further trials of immediate offside audio alerts sent to assistants, which debuted at the Club World Cup in the summer.

This is intended to reduce the number of delayed offside flags in obvious situations.

In May, Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi was placed into an induced coma after colliding with a goalpost after play continued from a clear offside.

Fifa hopes quicker notifications of offside will prevent such injuries occuring.

Domestic leagues have rejected the idea of bringing in VAR to review the awarding of corners.

The Fifa proposal was knocked back at an October meeting of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) – which determines the laws of the game.

However, world football’s governing body plans to trial the idea at the 2026 World Cup finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

“The main criteria is no delay. With corners, there is a physiological delay because when a corner is given, normally you wait until the two centre-backs come up,” Collina said at a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday when asked about potential delays.

“It normally takes 10-15 seconds to get the attackers ready. In these 10-15 seconds, if the corner kick is wrongly given, everybody has the evidence that the start of play is wrong and to me, it’s difficult to understand if they have the possibility to see that [the decision is wrong].

“Why do we have to hide our heads under the sand and hope that nothing happens on the corner kick which is taken?”

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham, who sits on the Ifab board, has previously told BBC Sport he is against the change.

Collina cited the need to make correct decisions as the main reason for using VAR on corners.

“I think we should all have as the objective to make correct decisions on the field of play,” the former Italian referee said.

“It would be a pity if the result of a competition is decided not by what the players do on the field of play, but by an honest mistake made by the decision-maker.

“This is what convinced us 13, 14 years ago to start thinking how to support referees [with technology]. So if we can get this, to me, it’s positive.

“We discuss and we will see what will be the outcome because I think the objective would be worth it.”

The measures will be discussed further at the next Ifab meeting in January.

At an October meeting, Ifab agreed that VAR could be expanded to cover incorrectly shown second yellow cards that lead to a red.

At an October meeting of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) – which determines the laws of the game – there was agreement that VAR could be expanded to cover incorrectly shown second yellow cards that lead to a red.

But Fifa’s proposal to review corners was rejected, meaning world football’s governing body will need to effectively create a trial to use it in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.

The measures will be discussed further at the next Ifab meeting in January, but Fifa has regularly applied trials to its competitions.

Semi-automated offside technology and referees announcing VAR decisions to the crowd are two examples, and it could use the same mechanism to start reviewing corners.

Pierluigi Collina, Fifa’s head of referees, has been a supporter of the change as part of a wider review of VAR protocol.

Collina is open to going further, too, believing that any error that can quickly be identified by the VAR could potentially be communicated.

The former referee has highlighted an incident in the Euro 2016 final, when Portugal were wrongly awarded a free-kick in extra time for handball on the edge of the area that almost led to a goal.

Leagues concerned about further delays

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche was frustrated when his team conceded two goals from corners that were wrongly awarded earlier this season.

But unless Ifab changes its stance, he will not get his wish for them to be reviewed in the future.

All leagues are under pressure to limit the delays as a result of VAR, and there is real opposition to anything that might make it worse.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham, who sits on the Ifab board, has previously told BBC Sport he is against it.

The VAR assessing wrongly issued second yellow cards is likely to be approved from the start of the next campaign because there are relatively few of those in a season – certainly compared to number of corners in a game. There are on average 10 corners a match in the Premier League.

A real issue for domestic leagues is resource, especially as you drop down the tiers – whereas Fifa has the ability to appoint as many video referees as it wants for its showpiece event.

At the World Cup in 2022, group-stage games had five people working in the VAR room, whereas domestic leagues usually have just two.

In addition to the VAR and assistant VAR, Fifa appointed an offside VAR, a support VAR and a support assistant VAR.

Fifa can also make sure there are enough cameras positioned in the right places to make quick decisions, which would be more challenging for domestic leagues.

There is also the connected technology in the Adidas ball, not available to leagues, which means the VAR during the World Cup would be able to instantly identify who touched the ball last in close cases.

This would all be impossible to replicate for domestic leagues.

Even at Premier League level, there have been issues having cameras to cover the whole goalline. This was the case with Newcastle’s controversial winning goal against Arsenal two years ago, when the VAR did not have the evidence the ball was out.

If corners were to be added to protocol, it would mean that all leagues with VAR would have to check them – not just the Premier League, but including the Scottish Premiership, the Dutch Eredivisie, down to the second divisions in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

It would created significant additional delays as leagues would not have the means to make quick and consistent decisions.

For these reasons, Fifa has been unable to get this through the Ifab panels, so it looks poised to run its own trial at the World Cup next year.

How will it work at the World Cup?

One of the fundamentals of the Laws of the Game that apply at all levels is that a referee cannot change a restart decision even if they realise it is incorrect after play is back under way

So, once the corner is taken and play is live, the game must continue.

For that reason, every corner will have to be reviewed by the VAR – although in the majority of cases the decision will be obvious.

Fifa believes it has the resources – from VARs to cameras to the ball technology – to make all decisions quickly.

It will present a departure from VAR protocol, which is only intended to look at four specific areas: goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity. In the World Cup next year, the awarding of corners is set to be added to that list.

If only the awarding of corners that directly lead to a goal were checked by VAR, it is possible that if the attacking team knew the referee should have awarded a goal-kick, they might take it is short, knowing scoring directly from the corner would be disallowed by the VAR.

Instead they could try to work an opening after taking a short corner and because it was not directly from the kick, the goal would stand.

After a goalless first half, Alexander Djiku’s 49th-minute header secured the win for the Black Stars, extending Ghana’s lead in Group I to 19 points.

However, Saintfiet suggested the goal might not have stood if VAR had been in use.

“Had VAR been used, Alexander Djiku’s goal would have been ruled out,” the Belgian told Adom TV’s Fire for Fire.

The defeat leaves Mali with a difficult task to secure qualification, but Saintfiet remains determined.

“Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup will be tough, but we will fight to win our remaining games,” he said.

Despite the setback, Mali’s World Cup ambitions remain alive, with playoff spots still within reach.

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Josh King scored 22 minutes into the game only for it to be chalked off following a VAR intervention for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.

Muniz was deemed to have stepped on the foot of Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah while trying to turn him near the halfway line.

“After review, Fulham Number 9 commits a careless challenge, stands on the foot of the Chelsea defender, therefore we disallow the goal and we restart with a Chelsea free-kick,” referee Robert Jones told the Stamford Bridge crowd.

To make matters worse for Fulham, Chelsea’s opening goal in their 2-0 victory came nine minutes into eight minutes stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Referees chief Howard Webb has spoken to Fulham and declared the decision was an error.

He said the decision to rule out the goal did not reach the high bar of a VAR intervention as it was not a clear and obvious error by the referee and should have been a ‘referees’ call’ instead.

As a result, referees’ body PGMOL has replaced Salisbury with John Brooks for the Sunday’s match at Anfield.

Fulham manager Marco Silva was furious with the officials after the defeat, describing the decision to disallow the goal as “unbelievable”.

“How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable,” Silva told TNT Sports after the game, which left Fulham winless after three Premier League matches.

“We have meetings with referees and people in charge, we all want to win. VAR is not here to re-referee the game.

“I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don’t want to be fined.

“But it has been a difficult start to the season with some decisions.”

It was the second Premier League home game in a row that Chelsea have benefited from a VAR intervention, after Eberechi Eze’s free-kick in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace was disallowed on the opening weekend because Marc Guehi was deemed to have interfered with the wall.

Burnley boss Scott Parker said the use of VAR was threatening to turn football into “the most sterile game there is” after his side lost to a controversial late penalty at Manchester United.

Ruben Amorim’s team were awarded a penalty deep into second-half stoppage time when Jaidon Anthony was penalised for grabbing Amad Diallo’s shirt inside the area.

Referee Sam Barrott initially waved play on, but after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor he awarded the spot-kick and Bruno Fernandes held his nerve to earn the hosts a 3-2 victory.

“It’s the way the game has gone – quadruple checking everything every minute,” Parker told BBC Match of the Day.

“On the field, the referee didn’t give the foul, then we’ve re-reffed it. It’s not the ref, it’s a fella 200-odd miles away in a box.”

APL has been unveiled ahead of the 2025/26 season, which kicks off on September 12.

Speaking to Akoma FM, Kotei explained that the main obstacle to VAR adoption in previous seasons was the poor quality of league coverage.

“We could not implement VAR in the past because the league’s broadcasting was not up to standard. For VAR to work effectively, you need excellent broadcasting,” he said.

He noted that APL’s enhanced production capabilities could make VAR a realistic prospect for Ghana’s top flight.

“With the new broadcaster, we believe that in the coming matches we will then know whether to start using the VAR or not,” Kotei added.

The development has raised hopes among fans that the technology could finally be tested in the league after years of discussion and delay.

With several high-profile lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) decisions in recent weeks, it is hoped the technology will start to reduce the delays and some debates.

Clubs voted in the technology last April, but its rollout has been pushed back from the autumn for more trials.

It is designed to make the judgement of tight offside calls easier for officials by making key parts of the review process automatic.

The Premier League says the artificial intelligence system “enhances the speed, efficiency and consistency of offside decision-making”.

It is not used for other VAR involvements such as penalties, goal reviews for handballs or other fouls, red cards or mistaken identity.

The first Premier League game with the technology will be Manchester City’s home match with Crystal Palace on Saturday (12:30 BST).

So how does it work?

First things first, the name. Why semi-automated? Don’t be confused – it just means humans have to verify the system’s decision.

We have already seen SAOT in this season’s Champions League and in the FA Cup from the fifth round onwards.

When a tight offside decision goes to a VAR review, SAOT steps in.

Previously, officials in the VAR room needed to decide on three key things – when the ball was kicked, where and at what angle the defender’s body was when the ball was kicked and where and what angle the attacker’s body was at the moment of contact.

Viewers at home have seen this manual process played out with lines drawn with crosshairs on freeze-frame replays shown on their TV screens.

All three of those decisions will now be automatically taken by the technology to remove some elements of human subjectivity, such as which frame to freeze as the ball is kicked.

Bespoke cameras have been installed beneath the roof at all 20 Premier League stadiums to monitor a variety of key elements.

About 30 cameras – working at 100 frames per second – will track the exact movement of the ball as well as 10,000 data points on the bodies of all 22 players.

It means it can be automatically determined whether an attacking player’s body was beyond the last defender at the exact time the ball was played.

VAR officials check the system has correctly determined the three key points it measures before confirming the decision. The on-field officials then inform the players.

A 3D animation of the decision produced by the artificial intelligence will then be played on television for viewers at home and on big screens in the stadium.

As yet, the officials will not speak to the crowd, as has been seen in the Carabao Cup.

Will it end the lengthy delays?

Image source: The FA

Image caption: We’ve already seen SAOT working in the FA Cup and Champions League this season

In short, a little.

But it’s important to remember we are only talking about offside decisions here – which are largely factual – and not subjective refereeing calls on goals, penalties and red cards, which will still go to VAR.

SAOT will increase the speed of the virtual offside line placements and it will help in crowded penalty areas.

The delay in disallowing Moises Caicedo’s goal in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Tottenham was about four minutes, and there is confidence SAOT would have cut that wait by about two minutes.

But it would not have reduced the time – more than three minutes – that it took to disallow Pape Sarr’s goal in the same game which led to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou claiming that VAR was “killing the game”. That goal was ruled out for a foul that was spotted in midfield, rather than for an offside.

The Premier League says there has already been 100% accuracy with offsides this season, with the average VAR delay at 39 seconds per game, compared with 64 seconds last season.

Ultimately, SAOT will reduce, but not eliminate, VAR delays for complex situations.

What was learned from eight-minute delay at Bournemouth?

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Milos Kerkez’s goal was eventually disallowed after a record VAR delay

In Bournemouth’s FA Cup fifth-round win over Wolves – one of the ‘trial’ games – SAOT made the headlines after a record eight-minute VAR stoppage.

The officials were unable to rely on the new technology during the check, and they needed to revert to manually drawn lines before disallowing Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez’s 35th-minute goal.

The Football Association said the issue was caused by a congested penalty area.

It was reviewed and it was recognised the speed of the process and switching between technologies – AI and data platform Genius Sports supply the SAOT – could have been improved.

It was felt some time could have been saved before recognising the new technology was not going to be able to help in that situation.

There are no plans for a time cut-off for VAR checks, despite recent criticism.

The argument from referees’ body PGMOL is that it can sometimes take time for officials to check through multiple issues with multiple processes – the last of which may be decisive but fall out of any time limit, should one be imposed.

Four incorrect VAR interventions and nine missed interventions from the first 23 rounds of games have been found by the competition’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel.

There have been 70 VAR interventions in 239 league games this season – around one every three matches.

The league says the accuracy of ‘Key Match Incidents’ is at 96.4% – up from 95.7% at the corresponding point last term.

“Nobody here underestimates the significance and the impact of one single error,” said chief football officer Tony Scholes said.

“We know that one single error can cost clubs. Points and results can cost managers positions, potentially players their place.”

In Erik ten Hag’s case, that was literally what happened – one of the four mistakes was the penalty given against his Manchester United side in what proved to be his final match in charge.

Referees have also been subject to abuse, with police recently investigating “threats and abuse” directed at Michael Oliver following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Wolves in January.

Oliver controversially sent off Gunners defender Myles Lewis-Skelly – a decision that was later reversed on appeal.

Former referee David Coote was sacked by the referees’ body in December after a “thorough investigation” into his conduct.

Asked about trust in officials, Scholes said: “We all have a responsibility to have some balance in the comments that are made.

“We cannot have the officials, such a key part of a successful and entertaining league, facing the kind of abuse that occurs on occasion.

“These guys are good. I know that is not always the perception, but the rest of the world recognise how good they are.”

The Premier League declined to list the nine missed interventions – and whether that includes the Lewis-Skelly red card. It did outline the four errors to media.​​​​​​​

What were the four VAR errors?

Outtara ‘handball’ – Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle, 25 August

• What: Dango Outtara thought he had scored a late winner for Bournemouth when he jumped to head the ball. The goal was given by on-field referee David Coote.
• Decision: VAR Tim Robinson advised Coote to reverse his decision, deeming it to be handball. As he deemed it a factual decision rather than subjective, he did not send Coote to the monitor to review it.
• Outcome: With no conclusive evidence as to whether the ball was low enough on Ouattara’s arm to deem it a handball, PGMOL chief Howard Webb – speaking on Sky Sports’ Match Officials Mic’d Up – said VAR was incorrect to intervene.

De Ligt foul on Ings – West Ham 2-1 Man Utd, 27 October

• What: West Ham striker Danny Ings went down inside the penalty area while challenging for the ball with Manchester United defender Mathijs de Ligt. Referee David Coote waved play on but was advised by VAR Michael Oliver to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
• Decision: Coote awarded a penalty, which Jarrod Bowen scored to give West Ham victory.
• Outcome: Under-pressure Man Utd manager Ten Hag was sacked the next day. Webb later said the Hammers should not have been awarded a penalty.

Norgaard red card – Brentford 0-0 Everton, 23 November

• What: Brentford’s Christian Norgaard caught Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on the knee while challenging for the ball in the penalty area.
• Decision: Referee Chris Kavanagh did not take action but was advised by the VAR to review the incident. He subsequently showed Norgaard a straight red card.
• Outcome: Norgaard’s three-match suspension for serious foul play was overturned by an independent panel on appeal.

Milenkovic goal disallowed – Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton, 19 January

• What: Nikola Milenkovic scored a header to put Nottingham Forest 4-1 up.
• Decision: The VAR advised referee Anthony Taylor to disallow the goal as Forest striker Chris Wood came from an offside position and impeded the Southampton defenders to challenge for the ball. Wood did not touch the ball.
• Result: An independent panel found the goal should have been given.

‘Significant progress’ on semi-automated offside technology

It had been hoped semi-automated offside technology, which is used in Fifa and Uefa competitions, would be introduced in either the October or November international windows.

League officials hope it would reduce the time taken to check offsides by 31 seconds.

Scholes, despite his own misgivings, says there has been significant progress over the past “four to six weeks”, and the intention is still to bring it in this season.

“This technology doesn’t improve the accuracy, it makes the process more efficient,” he said.

“Why wouldn’t you introduce it if you are absolutely confident it is ready?

The Hammers were given the decision on the recommendation of video assistant referee Michael Oliver following Matthijs de Ligt’s challenge on Danny Ings.

David Coote, the on-field referee, had waved play on following the incident but awarded a penalty after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.

Jarrod Bowen scored the penalty, sealing a 2-1 win for West Ham. Ten Hag was sacked less than 24 hours later.

“I thought it was a misread by the VAR,” Webb told Sky Sports’ Mic’d Up programme.

“A VAR that’s normally really talented and reliable, but gets uber-focused in this situation on De Ligt’s leg. His leg coming through on to Danny Ings, not making any contact with the ball. The ball’s already past De Ligt as he makes contact with Danny Ings.

“And the VAR sees that as a clear foul. I think he was too focused on that aspect. I don’t think he should have got involved.

“I think this is a situation where we’d leave the on-field decision as it is, probably whichever way it’s called. On balance, I don’t think it’s a penalty kick.”

On-field referees are not required to follow the recommendations of the VAR official.

“They are told that they are absolutely within their rights to keep their decision when they go to the screen,” said Webb.

United defender De Ligt said at a news conference while on international duty with the Netherlands that “the referees’ committee” had “called us to say that it was not a penalty”.

De Ligt added: “Normally, I am always self-critical and can get annoyed about things I don’t do well. But this was not my fault, I couldn’t blame myself for it.”

Webb, who is chief of refereeing body PGMOL, was speaking publicly for the first time since Coote was suspended with immediate effect after he appeared to make derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp in a video that circulated online.

“We became aware of a video that was being circulated on social media that we are taking very seriously,” said Webb.

“We’ve instigated a full investigation. One of our referees, David Coote, has been suspended with immediate effect pending the outcome of that investigation.

“There’s not much more I can say at this stage until we’ve worked through that investigation.”

Last week, the GFA held discussions with FIFA officials about the potential implementation of VAR. Sannie Daara supports this move, stressing that the system will help restore trust in refereeing and boost the country’s football leagues.

In an interview with Asempa FM’s Ultimate Sports Show, Sannie Daara stated, “The introduction of VAR will be very beneficial. During the recent Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast, VAR played a crucial role and became one of the tournament’s key highlights.”

He also addressed the common allegations of referee bias in games, suggesting that the introduction of VAR would bring greater transparency and fairness.

“With VAR in place, we will have more integrity in our game, and this will make the league more attractive to fans. It will also increase confidence in the system among the clubs.”

Sannie Daara acknowledged that there are other areas of improvement needed in Ghanaian football but emphasized that VAR is an essential step forward in enhancing the sport’s development.

“While there are many things we need to work on, VAR is certainly something we must embrace as part of our growth.”

Meanwhile, Alex Kotey, the Referees Manager of the GFA, has revealed that VAR will not be implemented at all venues.

“We agree that we can’t use VAR at all the league venues. It will be used for league matches that are broadcast live on television,” Kotey told Asempa FM.

The FIFA delegation involved in the talks included VAR experts Inokuchi Takaaki and Michael Bailey, who offered valuable insights into the operational aspects of VAR.

The GFA’s team at the meeting included Alex Kotey, head of referees and VAR lead for Ghana; Emmanuel Aglago, a VAR instructor; and Marian Mensah, the GFA’s head of legal affairs.

READ ALSO

Speaking to Citi Sports, he mentioned that Kurt Okraku, president of the GFA, is keen on rolling out VAR in the Ghana Premier League, with hopes to begin its use in the season’s second round.

“Our president [Kurt Okraku] is pushing very hard, and he even wants it to start, you know, in the middle. He thinks that by the second round of the league, we should even start with the VAR,” Kortey said.

“It is a lot of work, but we are committed to doing it. We’ll try and put our hands together and see how best it can be done,” he added.

Kortey also highlighted the importance of training media professionals to ensure accurate and appropriate language when discussing VAR decisions on broadcasts.

“We don’t expect any media person to go on radio while it’s being used and employ language or words that are not in conformity with the VAR guidelines,” he explained.

“So, we need to take the media, the broadcasters, and everyone through some training just to understand the language they need to use when broadcasting or commentating.”

Kortey further mentioned that although the GFA’s action plan targets the 2025/26 season, they plan to conduct trials before full implementation.

However, during an interview on Asempa FM’s Ultimate Sports Show last week, Kortey confirmed that VAR would not be implemented at all league venues due to logistical challenges. Instead, it will be available only for games broadcast live on television.

“We agree that we can’t use VAR at all the league venues. It will be used for league matches that are broadcast live on television,” he stated.

Last week, the GFA leadership met with FIFA representatives, including VAR experts Inokuchi Takaaki and Michael Bailey, to discuss the roadmap for implementing VAR. Key attendees included Kortey, VAR instructor Emmanuel Aglago, and the GFA’s Head of Legal Affairs, Marian Mensah.

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This follows the GFA’s announcement earlier this week that they would be meeting with a FIFA delegation in Accra on Thursday and Friday to discuss the introduction of VAR in Ghana’s domestic leagues.

“We agree that we can’t use VAR at all the league venues. It will be used for league matches that are broadcast live on television,” Kotey told Asempa FM’s Ultimate Sports Show.

The FIFA delegation includes VAR specialists Inokuchi Takaaki and Michael Bailey, who bring expertise to its operational processes.

The GFA attendees included Alex Kotey, head of referees and Ghana’s VAR team lead; Emmanuel Aglago, a VAR instructor; and Marian Mensah, the head of legal affairs at the GFA.

The GFA’s announcement has sparked a mixed reaction from Ghanaians, with many debating on social media whether VAR is a necessary addition to the local leagues at this time.

Scheduled for October 31 and November 1, 2024, the two-day meeting will take place in Accra, with FIFA’s full VAR project team in attendance.

Known as the “VAR kick-off meeting,” this gathering is a pivotal part of FIFA’s Implementation Assessment Approval Program (IAAP), which all Member Associations (MAs) must complete to adopt VAR technology.

Throughout the meeting, FIFA and GFA representatives will review every aspect of the VAR project and assess the requirements needed to roll it out successfully. Upon FIFA’s approval, this meeting will initiate the official VAR implementation process for Ghana’s leagues.

The FIFA team, including experts Inokuchi Takaaki and Michael Bailey, will arrive in Ghana on October 30, 2024. They will provide guidance on the technology and processes involved with VAR.

Representing the GFA, General Secretary Prosper Harisson Addo (Esq.) will lead a team comprising high-ranking officials, including Alex Kotey (Head of Referees and VAR Team Leader), Emmanuel Aglago (VAR Instructor), Marian Mensah (Head of Legal Affairs), Francis Adu (Head of IT), Julius Emunah (Head of Competitions), Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe (Head of PR and Strategy), and Christine Ziga (Chairperson of the Referees Committee).

FIFA requires the VAR Project Leader, main Venue Media Officer, and referee instructor to attend to ensure that all stakeholders are well-prepared for the technical and logistical needs of implementing VAR.

The GFA’s move to introduce VAR demonstrates its commitment to enhancing officiating standards and aligning with global practices. This meeting is expected to lay the groundwork for successfully integrating VAR technology into Ghanaian football.

It has now been five years since VAR was introduced in the Premier League, but the system and the way it is used continues to attract plenty of debate.

According to the independent Key Match Incidents panel (KMI), there were 31 incorrect uses of VAR during the 2023-24 season.

In June Premier League clubs voted 19-1 in favour of keeping VAR after Wolverhampton Wanderers triggered a vote to scrap it.

An independent survey commissioned by the Premier League suggested that four out of five fans want to keep VAR in the league.

The Premier League has started explaining VAR decisions using a dedicated social media channel, but the introduction of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) – originally scheduled for after either the October or November international break – has been delayed until 2025.

Webb – chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) – has claimed that mistakes are down 80% this season.

“I don’t think we managed expectations well in terms of VAR,” the former Premier League referee told the Stick to Football podcast, external.

“We knew it was always going to be a situation where it was going to do well on those clear situations, the ones where you think, ‘that’s clearly wrong on first view’. We’re good at spotting those most of the time.

“We have this independent panel which has got ex-players on it, and they judge each decision each week, and according to the panel – which is independent from us [PGMOL] – there has only been two VAR errors this season compared to 10 at the same time last year.”

Webb added that greater emphasis has been placed on reducing the time taken to reach decisions.

“We’ve been better at hitting the mark but that can change and we’re not going to get complacent, but it’s been better,” said Webb.

“For me, the biggest thing of all is that it’s been quicker. The average delay last season through VAR was 70 seconds per game and this year it’s 25 seconds. It’s way better.

“I said to the guys, ‘don’t ponder for too long, if you see a situation that jumps off the screen at you then get involved, but if you’re having to think about it too much and analyse it too many times then just say check complete because we’ll leave it with the referee on the field’. That’s why the term, ‘referee’s call’ is useful.”

‘I was frustrated’ – Webb on Fernandes red card

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Howard Webb said Bruno Fernandes’ red card should have been overturned by VAR.

Though overall errors are down, Webb admitted that VAR failed to intervene when Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off against Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Referee Chris Kavanagh showed Fernandes a straight red card in the 42nd minute for a late challenge on Tottenham’s James Maddison.

The Portuguese midfielder appeared to catch Maddison with a high studs-up challenge, but replays showed that Fernandes actually caught him with the side of his boot.

VAR Peter Bankes and assistant VAR Simon Long did not overturn the decision because they mistakenly thought it did not meet the threshold for an on-field review.

“We released the audio, you can hear the assistant referee – who’s got a good view of it – just saying ‘that looks awful, 100% red [card] for me’,” said Webb.

“From his angle it looked it, because it looks like the studs have gone in. But then there’s another angle shown on the replay on Sky Sports. Straight away I’ve gone ‘that’ll be an overturn’, but it wasn’t.

“I was frustrated that we didn’t step in to rectify it because it was clearly wrong in my opinion. He slipped, he tried to trip him but it was the side of the foot and he didn’t drive the studs in. If he had then it would have been a red card.”

United went on to lose the match 3-0 and Fernandes’ red card was overturned on appeal two days later. He was sent off during United’s next match, a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League.

Referee Chris Kavanagh showed Fernandes a red card for a foul on Spurs midfielder James Maddison during Sunday’s Premier League match at Old Trafford.

Fernandes has subsequently escaped a three-match ban following a successful appeal from Manchester United.

The KMI panel, made up of five members, includes three ex-players and managers. It unanimously voted the on-field decision was incorrect.

“Fernandes is reaching, the contact is high but certainly not excessive force or endangering the safety. The evidence is also there for a VAR intervention,” the panel wrote

The panel unanimously felt that the on-field decision of a red card was incorrect and there was enough evidence for the video assistant referee to overturn the decision.

“The panel also felt that the assistant was responsible for leading this decision,” it added.

United trailed Tottenham 1-0 when captain Fernandes was dismissed on 42 minutes and went on to lose 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Elsewhere, the panel unanimously supported the decision of referee Jarred Gillett to award Newcastle a penalty against Manchester City.

City goalkeeper Ederson was adjudged to have made contact with Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon in the 56th minute.

Gordon scored from the spot to earn Newcastle a point courtesy of a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.

There was a split on the panel when it considered Peter Bankes’ decision to give Chelsea a penalty in their 4-2 win against Brighton at Stamford Bridge on the same day.

Cole Palmer scored the penalty after Brighton striker Georginio Rutter was deemed to have fouled Jadon Sancho.

A 3-2 majority on the panel sided with Bankes’ on-field decision, with the two voting against feeling that Rutter was “entitled to run that line” and stating it “looks worse due to the closing gap”.

The panel was unanimous in its backing of referee Samuel Barrott for not showing a second yellow card to Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori during their 4-2 win against Leicester.

Calafiori was shown a yellow in the 49th minute but escaped further punishment for a tackle on Leicester loanee Facundo Buonanotte in the 70th minute.

“It’s a careless challenge, not reckless, it doesn’t stop a promising attack as [Thomas] Partey is right there covering,” the panel wrote.

Okraku made this announcement during the GFA’s 30th Ordinary Congress held at the Ghanaman Soccer of Excellence in Prampram on Tuesday.

During his speech at the Congress, he assured that discussions with FIFA regarding the adoption of VAR in Ghana’s top flight have been positive and that its introduction is imminent.

“The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has taken steps towards the introduction of VAR, especially at the Ghana Premier League level.

“Meeting with FIFA on this plan has gone well and we look forward to this becoming a reality soon.

“This investment by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) clearly confirms our desire to continuously invest towards the improvement of not only the league but also refereeing in general,” he added.

The use of VAR was first witnessed in Ghana during the 2022 World Cup playoffs between Ghana and Nigeria at the Baba Yara Stadium.

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The Premier League and referees chief Howard Webb said there would be fewer video assistant referee interventions this season, with more support for a referee’s judgment and quicker decisions as they look to make improvements to the system.

Clattenburg was appointed Nottingham Forest’s referee analyst in February, but stepped down in May, amid focus on his critical comments of some referees.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Clattenburg said: “The referees have a responsibility, starting this weekend, to get as many decisions right on the field and not rely on VAR. Then VAR will work every so many games, not once or twice a game as we saw last season.

“What I found (last season) was the referees weren’t making the split-second decisions like they used to do and it was going to VAR.

“VAR was then saying there isn’t the line of intervention where I want to come in because the referee isn’t clearly wrong.

“So you get these inconsistencies and anger from the fans.

“The biggest message I got from the statements Howard and his team is they want the referees to go back and give the decisions.”

‘Not enough experienced refs last season’

In May, Wolves triggered a vote to scrap VAR amid growing anger and frustration at the standard of refereeing and impact of technology on football last season.

They lost the vote, but the Premier League promised to improve VAR.

This season the top flight has put more importance on the ‘referees’ call’ and wants VAR to only intervene on subjective decisions, if that call is a clear and obvious error.

It was also announced this week that the Premier League Match Centre would post “near-live” explanations of VAR decisions on X for fans.

“There had to be some steps going forward because what we saw last year was a lot of upset, a lot of complaints,” said Clattenburg.

“Last season I could see, in depth, the refereeing standard. It was very difficult for Howard when he loses experienced referees in a short period of time.

“What I did see, to counteract that, was some very good young referees. You could see the talent. But like young footballers making mistakes, young referees are going to make mistakes.

“What I felt was needed was, when you have a young referee, you needed an experienced VAR to support them.

“At the moment we have only two or three referees on the biggest matches.

“Anthony Taylor, one of the best referees in the Premier League, is going to referee the biggest match of the weekend (Chelsea v Manchester City) and that happens most weeks with him and Michael Oliver. That’s a big ask for a referee to be refereeing these matches week in, week out.”

‘No hatchet to bury’ with referees’ chief Webb

Clattenburg dismissed any issue with Webb who said this week he was “disappointed” with some of his former colleague’s comments during his time at the City Ground.

He was criticised for his column in the Daily Mail, in which he called the decisions in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Everton in April a “joke”.

Forest felt they had three penalty decisions wrongly rejected which sparked a controversial social media post on X from the club’s official account calling into question the appointment of “Luton fan” Stuart Attwell as the VAR.

Clattenburg was handed a formal warning by the Football Association for his comments while boss Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams were fined and warned on Thursday for what they said after the game.

“No, there’s no hatchet to bury. I’m always open if Howard wants to speak. I’ve got a lot of advice and I’m very experienced,” he said.

“I’m an ex-referee and I’m allowed to speak and offer my opinion.

“What Howard has done was acknowledge his processes weren’t in place last season and there will be more transparency around the appointments. Where people originate, where they live and work.

“When you make an appointment like that (Attwell), it can always backfire. It was something which could have been avoided and should have been avoided.

“I know Howard’s role because I’ve been there myself and I know how difficult being a head of refereeing is.”

‘Referees getting upset with me need to work harder’

Clattenburg said there was “no regret from my side” over taking the Forest role.

“I supported the owner (Evangelos Marinakis), he is a passionate person who wants Nottingham Forest to do well. In my short time I offered some value,” he added.

“I was getting personally attacked by individuals on social media and on TV and it seemed to be a direct attack. Once I’d left, those attacks seemed to stop. It was a good decision to resign because it took the pressure away from the football club.

“The FA didn’t make any charge because I was doing my job I was employed to do with the Daily Mail.

“I know the feeling, no-one likes criticism, but referees are not immune. We have to accept criticism and the only way you remove criticism is performing at the very top.

“The referees getting upset because of me saying the decision was wrong, they need to go back and work harder to get the decisions right.

“Unfortunately last season I don’t think we had that many opportunities to praise the good work a lot of referees do because last season there were too many negatives.”

The introduction of the VAR aims to address concerns about inconsistent officiating.

The decision comes in response to calls for improvement in refereeing and follows a suggestion by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 73rd edition of the FIFA Congress last year.

Infantino recommended exploring more affordable options for developing nations like Ghana.

Speaking at a press conference last weekend, Mr Okraku said, “We are going to introduce VAR into our football.

“Whatever we will do to introduce VAR into football, we will, as part of our overall strategy for improving refereeing starting from our GPL, we will. It’s coming,” he added.

Ghana has already used VAR technology in international matches, including the 2022 World Cup playoff against Nigeria and Dreams FC’s CAF Confederation Cup knockout matches.

The introduction of VAR is expected to improve the fairness and credibility of the Ghana Premier League, bringing it in line with other top-tier competitions around the world.

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Wolves triggered a vote on the use of VAR in the 2024-25 season after formally submitting a resolution to the Premier League in May.

In order for VAR to be scrapped, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs needed to vote in favour of doing so.

But only Wolves voted in favour of the proposal as they failed to gain any support from other Premier League clubs.

Wolves said they were “disappointed with the outcome of the vote” but welcomed the Premier League’s “commitment to improve VAR”.

The Premier League has come under increasing pressure to modify VAR, which was introduced at the start of the 2019-20 season.

It was reaffirmed at the meeting that semi-automated offsides will be introduced at some point in the autumn, while the Premier League confirmed in-game VAR announcements will be put in place.

The in-game announcements, which were used during the 2023 women’s World Cup, will see referees explain post-VAR decisions to supporters in stadiums.

In addition, the Premier League said the “high threshold” bar for VAR officials to intervene over subjective on-field decisions would be maintained.

Wolves triggered a motion after a string of decisions went against Gary O’Neil’s side last season.

The Midlands club listed nine reasons to support its proposal to ban VAR, including the impact on goal celebrations, hostility towards match officials and the length of time needed to reach decisions.

Premier League has work to do

It is no surprise Wolves’ proposal to get rid of VAR was rejected.

Given the Premier League was committed to paying for it, whether they used it or not, any likelihood of clubs joining Wolves was non-existent.

However, Wolves’ secondary aim was to generate a wider debate and they have achieved that aim.

No-one, whether it is clubs, match officials or the Premier League, is happy with what is happening at the moment.

The Premier League wants greater transparency, which referees’ chief Howard Webb believes will lead to greater understanding of the decision-making process.

Clubs – and players – want better decisions more quickly.

The introduction of semi-automated offsides from next autumn should help achieve that.

League officials are stressing the technology, which has been tested and analysed during the current campaign, will not eliminate delays – but it should provide quicker decisions, particularly on the marginal calls, which seem to take forever at the moment.

The average reduction, it is being claimed, will be 31 seconds.

But there is still work to do. The Premier League needs to avoid finding itself in this position again, otherwise the vote might not be so clear-cut.

The league sent a briefing document to all 20 clubs before the annual general meeting on Thursday, 6 June, explaining the reasons why it feels VAR should remain.

Wolves formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League in May, which triggered a vote on the continued use of VAR.

Premier League clubs are unlikely to vote through this proposal, though in-game VAR announcements are set to be introduced.

The Premier League sent a ‘VAR Improvement Plan’ to clubs on Wednesday, written by chief football officer Tony Scholes.

The document, seen by BBC Sport, includes a section on the foreseen impact of removing VAR.

Among the consequences listed is that some “match-defining” decisions from on-field referees which were incorrect would not be overturned should VAR be absent.

It acknowledges that while scrapping VAR would result in fewer interruptions and delays to the game, “significantly more officiating errors would be made (around 100 per season), including highly contentious match-deciding incidents, potentially in critically important matches.”

The Premier League also states there were only five incorrect VAR interventions last season, compared to 105 correct calls. This is an improvement on 2022-23, when the league says there were 11 wrong VAR decisions to 105 which were right.

Among the other reasons cited to keep VAR is that the Premier League is “contractually committed to significant operating cost elements of VAR for the next three years”.

As the Premier League would be the only major European league to remove VAR if the vote passes, the league warns that it would be “potentially damaging” to its reputation, while English referees would not get major assignments for Uefa or Fifa tournaments “as regular experience operating both on-field with VAR and acting as VAR domestically are critical”.

‘Apathy, hostility and erosion of trust’

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES

Image caption: In a Football Supporters’ Association survey of 10,000 fans, just 26.8% were in favour of VAR

In the same briefing document, the Premier League accepts there are issues with VAR which it is attempting to sort, including the amount of time it takes for decisions to be made.

The document says the average delay to a game for a single VAR check lasted 64 seconds in the 2023‑24 season, up from 40 seconds in 2022-23.

One expected change is the use of in-game VAR announcements from referees, which Fifa introduced at a number of its competitions last year, including the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

These changes are likely to be welcomed by most Premier League clubs. BBC Sport understands Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham are among clubs who want to keep VAR, but are demanding that improvements are made.

Liverpool are also not supporting moves to get rid of VAR.

But Wolves remain staunchly in favour of scrapping VAR and sent out a briefing paper of their own on Wednesday.

The club highlight as issues the negative impact on match-going fans and their experience at games, as well as what they claim is a more negligible impact on correct decisions.

“Wolves argue that the use of VAR has led to increased disengagement among the Premier League’s match-attending fans due to its adverse effects on the match experience, resulting in apathy, hostility and erosion of trust in football’s authorities and officials,” they said in the paper.

They added: “Premier League data shows an increase in correct decisions from 82% pre-VAR to 96% with VAR, highlighting its effectiveness in reducing errors.

“If we put aside the argument on whether the data is credible and convincing, while overall accuracy might be increased to a debatable degree, the cost in terms of match enjoyment and fan engagement outweighs these benefits.

“The integrity of the game is compromised by lengthy interruptions and inconsistent application of VAR protocols.”

Wolves have formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League which will trigger a vote when the 20 member clubs meet in Harrogate on 6 June.

The club said VAR was introduced “in good faith” but has led to “numerous unintended negative consequences that are damaging the relationship between fans and football”.

VAR was introduced in 2019 to help support on-field officials with key match decisions, but there have been a number of controversial incidents involving the technology this season.

“The price we are paying for a small increase in accuracy is at odds with the spirit of our game,” read a Wolves statement.

The Premier League said it “acknowledged the concerns” about VAR but “fully supports” the technology and will continue to work with referees’ body PGMOL to make improvements.

Any rule changes need a two-thirds majority – 14 of of the 20 clubs – to vote in favour.

Premier League clubs have already voted for semi-automated offside technology to be introduced for the 2024-25 season.

VAR criticised after controversies

A number of Premier League managers have been critical of VAR and refereeing standards this season, including Wolves boss Gary O’Neil.

O’Neil was given a one-match touchline ban in April for his conduct near the referee’s room after a game against West Ham, which saw Wolves have a late equaliser disallowed following a VAR check.

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi also questioned the role of VAR after the West Ham game and said the club would be higher in the table “if it wasn’t for a number of incorrect or contentious decisions”.

Nottingham Forest questioned the VAR official in a highly critical statement on social media after three penalty appeals were rejected in a 2-0 defeat at Everton last month.

An independent Key Match Incident Panel later ruled Forest should have had one penalty from their three unsuccessful appeals.

One of the most high-profile VAR mistakes to date is Luis Diaz’s goal that was incorrectly disallowed for offside for Liverpool at Tottenham in October.

The Premier League said the incident highlighted “systemic weaknesses in the VAR process” and that “key learnings and immediate actions” were taken.

In February the league’s chief football officer Tony Scholes said VAR had increased the number of correct decisions but that those decisions were taking too long and offered a poor in-stadium experience.

In a bid to improve transparency, referee’s chief Howard Webb regularly discusses notable recent incidents involving VAR, including audio between on-field officials and the VAR team, on the TV programme Match Officials Mic’d Up live.

Last month, Sweden became the only elite league in Uefa’s top 30 to reject VAR.

The PA news agency understands Thomas Kwiatkowski will no longer be among the officials selected to oversee the Real Sociedad v Red Bull Salzburg match at the Anoeta Stadium.

Newcastle were within a few minutes of stoppage time of a famous victory at the Parc des Princes when a questionable handball decision against Tino Livramento handed Kylian Mbappe the chance to snatch a point, and it was one he took with some aplomb.

Asked if he felt a sense of injustice, Magpies boss Eddie Howe replied: “Yes, I do. It wasn’t the right decision in my opinion.

“There are so many things to take into account at that moment, the speed first. It was a ricochet that when it is slowed down, looks completely different to the live event.

“The ball hits his chest first, comes up and hits his hand. But his hand is not in an unnatural position, they (his hands) are down by his side, but he is in a running motion.

“I feel it is a poor decision and it’s hugely frustrating for us as you know how little time there is left in the game. There is nothing we can do about it now.”

The Gunners backed their manager Mikel Arteta’s scathing assessment of “unacceptable” officiating during the 1-0 defeat by Newcastle.

Arteta said the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winner was “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.

“I thought Arsenal’s statement was really poor,” Neville told Sky Sports.

Three areas around Gordon’s goal were checked by Sunday’s video assistant referee (VAR) – to see if the ball went out of play in the build-up if there was a foul and if there was an offside – with all coming back in Newcastle’s favour.

Arsenal said the refereeing was “unacceptable”, adding players, coaches and supporters all “deserve better”.

The club’s statement followed Liverpool’s anger towards PGMOL, the governing body for referees after the VAR failed to overturn an incorrect decision to disallow a Luis Diaz goal in their defeat by Tottenham in September.

Liverpool claimed “sporting integrity has been undermined” by the failure.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil previously said he has “given up on referees” and claimed “we’re in a crazy place” following the latest in a string of controversial decisions against his side after they conceded from a late penalty in injury time to lose at Sheffield United.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, former Manchester United and England defender Neville added: “Liverpool made a shocking go on PGMOL a couple of weeks ago at Spurs and we knew it was wrong.

“They were hard done by for Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal. The day after Liverpool wrote their statement mentioning ‘sporting integrity’ and looking at all options and suggested a replay.

“I thought it was quite dangerous. Arsenal’s statement was quite dangerous too.”

Neville also pointed out that Premier League clubs had signed up to a new ‘behavioural chart’ at the start of the season.

Last month, the International Football Association Board (Ifab) said there were no plans to broadcast live VAR communication because it would be too “chaotic” to listen to and potentially create “an unsafe environment for referees”.

PGMOL has not commented publicly on Arteta and Arsenal’s criticism, but Neville says the Premier League must respond and protect its referees.

He added: “Clubs should behave better in these circumstances and I am looking to the Premier League now, and particularly the leadership, because the reality is they’ve got to start protecting referees.

“At the very beginning, I was very excited about the new transparency and apologies to managers that the referees were communicating to the clubs.

“This is uncharted territory with the ideas of these letters being written. Arsenal as an institution or a football club with a massive history, they should behave better. They will feel disappointed in a few years’ time whoever sanctioned that statement.”

‘You have to accept the referee’s decision’

Neville’s comments preceded Chelsea’s 4-1 win at nine-man Tottenham in another game where VAR controversy dominated.

Five goals were scored and another five were disallowed, while Spurs defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off.

Defeat for Tottenham was their first in the Premier League this season, but manager Ange Postecoglou, who also received a yellow card on the bench, said the referee’s decision is final.

“You have to accept the referee’s decision, that is how I grew up,” said Postecoglou.

“This constant erosion of the referee’s authority is where the game is going – they are not going to have any authority. We are going to be under the control of someone with a TV screen a few miles away.

“The decision is the decision. In 26 years I have had plenty of bad decisions, I have had plenty fall in my favour. It is what it is.

“There will be a forensic study of every decision out there, I think that is the way the game is going and I don’t like it. If you look at all that standing around we did today, maybe people enjoy that sort of thing but I’d rather see us playing football.”

‘The reaction was so overboard’

Neville’s comments were echoed by former Chelsea forward Chris Sutton, who said Arteta and Arsenal’s response had not helped the situation.

“I just think [Arteta’s] reaction was so overboard, so over the top because while I thought the push was a foul, I can still see to some extent the other side of the argument,” Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.

“That’s where I think he was wrong. I can see why he was upset with that, just like I can see another manager who should be upset this season, Gary O’Neil, who has been wronged time after time after time.

“There has been inconsistency this season and it is frustrating a lot of managers.

“We saw Klopp rightly frustrated at the Diaz goal at Tottenham but the response now from the actual clubs coming out with this big public backing and panning the PGMOL, it’s not helping is it?”

Also speaking on Monday Night Club, former England captain Steph Houghton said “inconsistency is a big problem” but added Arteta’s reaction was “a little bit over the top”.

She said: “You are right to be angry at the decision but the way it is worded has a lack of calmness.”

Anthony Gordon bundled in the only goal with three VAR checks – to see if the ball went out of play, if there was a foul and if there was an offside – all coming back in Newcastle’s favour.

The result ended Arsenal’s unbeaten Premier League start.

“I have to be here now to say it is not acceptable,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

“We didn’t deserve to lose the match. We lose the match because of the clear and obvious decisions. It’s embarrassing. A disgrace. That’s what it is – a disgrace.

“You cannot imagine the amount of messages I got saying this cannot continue. I am wasting my time. We are wasting our time. I don’t want to be in the hands of people.”

The Spaniard continued to BBC Sport: “It’s embarrassing what happened – how this goal stands, in the Premier League – this league we say is the best in the world. I’ve been 20 years in this country and now I feel ashamed. It’s a disgrace and there’s too much at stake here. We are trying to do incredible things and be at the highest level each week.

“The outcome is nowhere near the level this league needs to have. It’s not good enough. I feel embarrassed to be part of this.”

In his post-match media conference, Arteta’s fury continued and he added he felt “sick”.

“For many reasons it’s not a goal,” he said.

On the fact there were three checks, he said: “That makes it worse – you need to see one image to say ‘OK, finished’. Then if in doubt you check the second one and then they’re saying this is a goal. OK then.”

When asked which decision he thought was wrong, he said: “This is really the question. It’s not a goal – it’s simple. For a goal to be allowed there are certain things prior to that that are not allowed in football – here and in China, in Japan, in Italy, in Portugal, and Spain. That’s what happens.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, unsurprisingly, felt differently.

“It looked a good goal to me,” he said. “We’re in the dark, we’re stood by the side of the pitch seeing VAR on the screen but with no pictures. With every VAR check that was going on we thought one would cost us in the end.”

It came at the end of a day when another Premier League manager, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil, claimed “we’re in a crazy place” with referees after Sheffield United were given a last-minute penalty which they scored to beat his team 2-1.

What happened at St James’ Park?

Joe Willock tried to keep a wayward shot from Jacob Murphy in play near the corner flag before steadying himself and swinging in a cross. Joelinton beat Gabriel in the air before knocking the ball down into the path of Gordon.

With goalkeeper David Raya off his line, Gordon smashed into the net from close range.

Referee Stuart Attwell awarded the goal – and then the VAR checks began. Just over four minutes of them.

Former Newcastle winger Chris Waddle, watching the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, initially said “there’s no way that this is a goal”.

“I think there will be a VAR check on this because a lot of things happened throughout that move,” he said. “There were pushes, the ball looked like it may have gone out of play from Murphy’s shot, then the challenge into the back of Gabriel from Joelinton almost on the goalline.”

So first there was a check to see if Willock had kept the ball in play. “That’s tight. The curve of the ball, how can you even check that? I’m not sure,” said pundit Gary Neville on Sky Sports. Andrew Madley, the VAR, decided there was no conclusive evidence that the ball was out of play. That check lasted 33 seconds.

Then a check to see if Joelinton had fouled his fellow Brazilian Gabriel to reach the ball first. This one lasted 50 seconds and Madley deemed there was not sufficient contact to award a foul.

And then the final question. Was Gordon offside when Joelinton played the ball? Exactly 90 seconds later the decision was made – there was no conclusive evidence of offside. They could not find an available camera angle for the VAR to draw the line.

So the goal stood. Three tight decisions, but the officials could not be sure any of them were offences.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown felt it was a foul on Gabriel – but thought Arteta should have waited until he calmed down to speak to the media.

“He was very emotional. He might have been better placed taking a bit longer before his interviews,” Keown said on BBC Match of the Day. “There were some decisions I was getting angry with myself.

“I was screaming that’s a foul on Gabriel. That’s two hands. Anywhere else on the pitch that’s a foul. Two hands on his back, off the ground. Gabriel is stooping because he can’t get off the ground. There might have been handball. Virtually everything is wrong with that goal.”

Former Magpies defender Steve Watson, watching the game for BBC Radio Newcastle, felt the first incident was the main risk.

“Once the ball was deemed to be in play that was the end of it for me,” he said. “I wasn’t really that worried about it. When it takes that long you always try to second guess things.

“I didn’t see anything regarding the foul and it certainly wasn’t offside. They came to the right decision eventually, but they put you through the mill by doing it.”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, on Sky, said: “The big thing is the ball going out. I don’t think it is a foul. The problem is the camera angle we have is not conclusive so I am glad it has been given.

“People will be criticising VAR. Three looks at different things – how did they get to a goal? People have been very critical of VAR saying it is looking for ways to disallow goals, but you can’t have the argument both ways. If there is not enough evidence to disallow a goal then that should be given a goal.”

Wolves boss livid with Blades winner

At Bramall Lane earlier, referee Robert Jones decided that Fabio Silva had fouled George Baldock in the box and duly awarded a penalty with Wolves set to secure a 1-1 draw.

Oliver Norwood converted from the spot to give Sheffield United their first win of the season, and O’Neil felt the wrong decision had been made.

“I don’t really know what to say on it apart from it’s not a penalty. I have spoken to the referee who says there is contact,” he told BBC Match of the Day.

“I’ve watched it so many times. It’s minimal contact between Fabio Silva’s shinpad and George Baldock’s calf. If that’s a foul then there were a million fouls in that match today.

“The referee was so quick to want to give it. It’s never a clear penalty.

“I don’t know where to go with it. We’re told to go in and have a sensible conversation, but I do and he’s [Robert Jones] still sat there watching it with me and telling me it’s a penalty. That tells me that we’re in a crazy place. “

Former England striker Gary Lineker wrote on X: “Another stinking decision goes against Wolves. Exactly the same as last week v Newcastle. Another error from VAR.”

Wolves have been on the end of some contentious calls this season, including last weekend when Hwang Hee-chan was deemed to have fouled Fabian Schar in the box and Callum Wilson converted the resulting penalty in a 2-2 draw.

In their first game of the season, Wolves lost 1-0 but were denied a last-minute penalty after Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic when he came for a cross without making contact with the ball.

VAR decisions were announced at the Women’s World Cup, but the PA news agency says football’s lawmakers Ifab will now trial in other competitions.

FA chief Mark Bullingham expects Ifab to discuss other changes, such as making audio between the referee and VAR available in the stadium.

He said an extension to the trial is a “step in the right direction”.

At July’s World Cup, referees announced VAR decisions to the crowd via microphone to fans in stadiums and viewers at home – a first at a senior Fifa international tournament.

Last month, miscommunication between VAR Darren England and referee Simon Hooper led to Liverpool’s Luis Diaz having a goal wrongly ruled out for offside in their Premier League game against Tottenham.

Referees’ chief Howard Webb has since said steps have been taken to avoid a repeat of the controversy, with Liverpool losing the game 2-1.

Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association and a member of Ifab, said the organisation had discussed making changes to the laws of the game so that conversations between on-field officials and VARs are broadcast live to fans in the stadium, which is currently prohibited.

“Generally there is a split in the room over that, and quite often it is between the marketing and commercial people and the referees,” he added.

“Our point of view, from the marketing and commercial perspective, would normally be that transparency is a really good thing, and we want fans to have the maximum experience.”

However, Bullingham said there is an “understandable nervousness” that this may place an added pressure on the referees, which is “hard enough as it is”.

“We are taking a step in the right direction with announcing the decision and explaining why it has been reached,” he added. “Let’s see if that leads to further progression.”

Fellow Ifab member Patrick Nelson, chief executive of the Irish Football Association, said: “We just need to see more evidence on this at the moment.

“It’s interesting when we look at recent examples but we still need to remember that VAR, as an entire concept, is relatively in its infancy compared to the game of football and compared to Ifab. There is still more that we can learn.”

VAR to revisit clear mistakes?

Audio recordings of discussions between the match officials around Diaz’s disallowed goal against Tottenham were made public by referees’ body the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

VAR England said the check was “perfect”, before swearing when he realises a mistake has been made.

Currently, VARs are prevented from revisiting a decision once play has restarted, but this could be something Ifab look to change in the future.It could be updated to allow a decision to be revisited where a clear mistake has occurred and where no significant action has taken place since play restarted.

Bullingham said he was also aware Ifab had been asked to discuss widening the scope of VAR to rule on decisions such as the awards of corners and free-kicks.

VAR is currently only able to intervene on decisions surrounding goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity.

“I think we would be really reluctant to have a game that was stopped a lot more than it currently is, but that will be a proper discussion,” said Bullingham.

Liverpool were wrongly denied a goal against Tottenham last weekend because of “a significant human error”.

Pochettino says he is in favour of the technology but would like to see its use during matches simplified.

“We understand people make mistakes, it is not easy,” Pochettino said.

“I think when the referee makes mistakes, we can all accept [it]. When it happens with technology it is difficult to understand.”

He added: “For me, it is about simplifying the situation. The most important is to return to giving [more] power to the referee. I think one step back may make things easier and more clear.”

While insisting he trusts VAR after initially being critical, Pochettino said he would only keep the offside and goalline aspects of the technology.

Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly disallowed at 0-0 last Saturday despite replays showing he was onside. A breakdown in communications between the on-pitch officials and VAR teams meant the original decision was not overturned.

Also speaking on Friday, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou accepted Liverpool were denied a “legitimate goal” but said it was “clear it wasn’t an integrity issue” which caused the error.

Meanwhile, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said he believes there “seem to be more errors made” so far this season.

What is the new ‘VAR communication protocol’

Referees’ body PGMOL committed to a full review following the incident at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

From this weekend, PGMOL said VARs will confirm the outcome of any decisions with their assistant VARs before notifying the on-field officials to prevent a repeat mistake.

PGMOL, which said it is committed to introducing a new VAR communication protocol as part of a review, believes the move will enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and VAR team in relation to decisions.

The hope is that this will also build trust with the players and managers following the controversy around the disallowed Diaz goal.

Howard Webb, who is PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer, will speak about the VAR incident at Spurs when the latest edition of the ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ programme airs on Tuesday.

Webb will join former England striker Michael Owen for the 26-minute show, which analyses a number of refereeing decisions from the recent match rounds using game footage as well as audio between on-field officials and VAR teams.

‘A faultless VAR system doesn’t exist’ – Postecoglou

Postecoglou’s Spurs moved above Liverpool to second place after Joel Matip’s late own goal decided an eventful and contentious Premier League match last weekend.

The magnitude of the VAR mistake did not become clear to the managers and players until after the match, in which Liverpool were also controversially reduced to nine men.

“It’s a weird one,” said Postecoglou. “Usually when something major happens, you get a sense during the game. I don’t think anyone really had a sense anything significant had happened.”

He added: “Whatever I say is maybe going to be seen through the prism that we were the beneficiaries of the mistake. The facts are there was a legitimate goal that Liverpool scored which wasn’t given.

“It is an unusual one in that it has never happened before. At the same time, we are in a new space with technology and there are going to be a lot of firsts with this technology.

“My view is that we want a faultless system – that will just never exist unless we turn our game into an event which goes on for four hours and we explain every decision.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said the match should be replayed.

Postecoglou was asked, had he been aware of the error at the time, whether he would have potentially gifted a goal back.

However, the Tottenham boss insisted that such a level of responsibility, making quick decisions based on limited information, should not fall on managers.

“We have got pretty hefty responsibilities as managers at our football clubs but we are not the custodians,” he said.

“I wouldn’t make a decision which could potentially send your club down on the back of what my beliefs are.

“It is different if something is clear. It wasn’t easily explainable because, if it was, I would assume there would have been more uproar than there was.”

Spurs benefited from VAR officials failing to overturn a wrongly flagged offside decision when Luis Diaz scored for Liverpool with their match at 0-0.

Postecoglou’s side won last Saturday’s game 2-1 after an injury-time own goal.

Asked whether he would get rid of VAR, the Spurs manager said: “I would, in its current form. I just don’t think that technology’s ready for our game.”

Referees’ body PGMOL released the audio of discussions between the match officials around Diaz’s disallowed goal on Tuesday.

Video assistant referee Darren England said the check was “perfect”, before swearing when he realised a mistake had been made.

From this weekend, PGMOL said VARs will confirm the outcome of any decisions with their assistant VARs before notifying the on-field officials to prevent a repeat mistake.

“I’ve got absolutely zero against goalline technology, that’s a no-brainer because that’s quite significant, but it works for our game,” added Postecoglou.

“I just think our game is unique and I know people say, ‘well, let’s get referees explaining their decisions’. Oh my God. Seriously? Could you imagine sitting there listening to a referee explain every decision on the game.”

Postecoglou drew a comparison between refereeing in football and how NFL officials communicate, and how long that can take.

“I’m going to the gridiron on Sunday, I love it, I love American football,” he said. “It’s three and a half hours mate. Do you want to sit through three and a half hours of listening?

“I just think with VAR at the moment, we think it’s going to eliminate [errors] and the more we use it, I think the worse it’s going to get.

“It was there for the clear and obvious error. It seems like everything now. Yellow cards, fouls, corners, everything’s getting scrutinised. It’s not our game.

“We’re not rugby, we don’t have those stoppages. What I always loved about England was the frenetic pace of football.

“Why are we trying to take that out? Now, I think part of the consequence of last week was that none of us liked it when they were taking so long to make a decision and it sounded like last week they were rushing into a decision.

“That suggests to me that I don’t think the technology in its current form is suitable to our game, but I know I will be in a minority with that and my role within that is to accept that whatever my feelings are on it, ultimately, there’s still going to be an arbitrator of decisions.”

What does Postecoglou think of a replay against Liverpool?

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said replaying the game against Spurs would be “the right thing to do” because of the unprecedented nature of the mistake made by the VAR.

BBC Sport understands there is no prospect of the Premier League considering a replay.

“I think Jurgen’s said that and maybe that was taken a little bit out of context,” said Postecoglou.

“My view is when you’re talking about a replay, there’s got to be some sort of threshold and I don’t think a mistake is a threshold for that.

“It was a unique mistake, people have used an unprecedented mistake and I agree with that, but it was still a mistake.

“So, if your threshold for replays is mistakes by individuals, that’s 365 games a year, I reckon.”

Darren England and assistant Dan Cook did not overrule on Saturday when Luis Diaz was wrongly flagged offside.

The on-field referee from that game, Simon Hooper, will be the VAR official for Bournemouth’s trip to Everton.

Michael Oliver, who was the fourth official, will feature in two games.

Oliver will be VAR official for Luton’s game against Tottenham on Saturday, before taking charge on the field for Arsenal’s game against Manchester City on Sunday.

England and Cook were stood down from duty for the rest of last weekend because of the mistake at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, described by referees’ governing body PGMOL’s as a “significant human error”.

Liverpool, who went down to a 2-1 defeat, criticised PGMOL’s response to the controversial incident, saying the explanation was “unacceptable” and “sporting integrity has been undermined”.

On Monday, the club made a formal request for the audio recordings between the match officials, to better understand how the breakdown in communication happened.

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VAR failed to overturn an incorrect decision to disallow a Luis Diaz goal for offside with the match goalless.

In a statement on Sunday, the club said they will “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.

The VAR officials were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend.

PGMOL, the governing body for referees, has said the decision to disallow the goal was “a significant human error”.

Liverpool say that explanation is “unacceptable” and called for a “review with full transparency”.

What happened in disallowing Diaz goal?

PGMOL admitted that VAR official Darren England and assistant Dan Cook failed to act after Diaz’s 34th-minute strike at Tottenham was wrongly ruled out for offside.

Still images of the incident showed Tottenham defender Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside.

The disallowed goal came when the match was level but with the Reds down to 10 men after Curtis Jones had been controversially sent off following England’s intervention.

BBC Sport understands the correct procedure was followed for the offside decision but the mistake was down to human error.

The lines were drawn in accordance with normal procedure and every other aspect was checked.

However, what is being described by sources as a lapse of concentration led to a loss of focus around the initial on-field decision and then a ‘check complete’ being confirmed rather than an intervention that would have resulted in the goal being awarded.

It is understood that referees’ chief Howard Webb has spoken to Liverpool about the incident.

In a statement the PGMOL added: “The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention. However, the VAR failed to intervene.”

What have Liverpool said?

Speaking after the match, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his side’s defeat came in “the most unfair circumstances” with “crazy decisions”.

Klopp also said the PGMOL statement “doesn’t help” and referenced the apology Wolves received for the decision not to award a penalty at Manchester United earlier in the season.

England was replaced as the fourth official for Sunday’s Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Cook was replaced as assistant referee for the game between Fulham and Chelsea on Monday.

Liverpool then published a statement later on Sunday saying: “Liverpool acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.

“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.

“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.

“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.

“This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.

“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”

Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has called Liverpool’s statement a “mistake”.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “Jurgen Klopp handled the situation well last night after the game. Most football fans will have had empathy with what happened and recognised it was wrong!

“However Liverpool’s statement tonight is a mistake! Talk of exploring all options (what does that mean!) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases along with being vague and aggressive.”

Cook, England and Michael Oliver, who was the fourth official at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, were also part of a match officiating team who took charge of a league game in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

The Football Association had approved the trip and the trio arrived in London on Friday to prepare for Saturday’s game.

It is understood that Liverpool also want this looked at as part of PGMOL’s review.

The Reds also had forward Diogo Jota sent off as well Jones – both decisions which Klopp disagreed with – and lost to a stoppage-time Joel Matip own goal.

Klopp added: “If you want to change, you have to do [it] without our voice. If we say something, we get fined. They didn’t do it on purpose but if we want to talk about it, do it properly.”

Reds captain Virgil van Dijk said he was losing faith in VAR after Saturday’s costly officiating blunder.

Former England striker Alan Shearer, who also agreed Jones’ red card was harsh, described VAR’s error as “incomprehensible” on Saturday’s BBC Match of the Day.

He said: “A horrendous day for the officials and VAR. We have seen some howlers but that is the biggest. Trust is going to be a big thing going forward.”

England failed to overturn an incorrect decision on the pitch to disallow a Luis Diaz goal for offside as the Reds were beaten 2-1 on Saturday.

Dan Cook was assistant VAR for the game and he has been replaced as assistant referee for the game between Fulham and Chelsea on Monday.

“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage,” said referees’ body PGMOL.

What happened in disallowing Diaz goal?

At 0-0 and with Liverpool down to 10 men, winger Diaz’s goal was disallowed on the field, with England upholding the decision after a quick VAR check, in which the customary offside line graphic was not shown.

BBC Sport understands the correct procedure was followed for the controversial decision but the mistake was down to human error.

The lines were drawn in accordance with normal procedure and every other aspect was checked.

However, what is being described by sources as a lapse of concentration led to a loss of focus around the initial on-field decision and then a ‘check complete’ being confirmed rather than an intervention which would have resulted in the goal being awarded.

It is understood referees’ chief Howard Webb has spoken to Liverpool about the incident.

A PGMOL statement after the game said “a significant human error occurred”.

It added: “The goal by Luiz Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.”

Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side’s defeat came in “the most unfair circumstances” with “crazy decisions”.

“That is not offside when you see it,” he told Sky Sports.

“The ball is between Mo [Salah]’s legs, they drew the line wrong and didn’t judge the moment when Mo passed the ball right.”

Klopp also said the PGMOL statement “doesn’t help” and referenced the apology Wolves received for the decision not to award a penalty at Manchester United earlier in the season.

Former England striker Alan Shearer described VAR’s error as “incomprehensible” on BBC Match of the Day.

“The one bit of VAR we have accepted and learned we can’t argue about was offside,” he said.

“This will put so much doubt into decisions that go on. It is a monumental error. We spotted it straight away.”

Postecoglou has ‘never been fan of’ VAR

Liverpool also had Curtis Jones controversially sent off by referee Simon Hooper, who initially gave the midfielder a yellow card for a foul on Yves Bissouma before upgrading it to a red after being asked to review the decision on the pitchside monitor.

Reds forward Diogo Jota was also dismissed for two bookings.

Tottenham took the lead in the game through Son Heung-min and, while Cody Gakpo equalised for the Reds, a Joel Matip own goal in injury time gave Spurs victory.

Speaking about VAR, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says he has “never really been a fan of it since it came in” as it “complicates areas of the game that I thought were pretty clear in the past”.

He added: “I can see at the same time why it was inevitable that technology would come in. We have to deal with it.

“The game is littered with historical refereeing decisions that weren’t right, but we all accepted that it was part of the game because we’re dealing with human beings.

“I think that people are under the misconception that VAR is going to be errorless. It’s down to interpretation, and they’re still human beings.

“When you put such a high bar on something, it invariably is going to fail, so if people are thinking that VAR is going to be something that at some point that is perfect, that’s never going to happen.”

Dean was the video assistant referee (VAR) for Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham in August 2022.

Just before a late Harry Kane equaliser, Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty after Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair.

Dean acknowledged a “really bad call” not sending Taylor to review it.

“I missed the stupid hair pull at Chelsea versus Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view,” Dean told Simon Jordan’s Up Front podcast.

“It’s one of them where if I had my time again, what would I do? I’d send Anthony [Taylor] to the screen. I think I knew if I did send him to the screen…he’s cautioned both managers, he’s had a hell of a game, it’s been such a tough game end to end.

“I said to Anthony afterwards: ‘I just didn’t want to send you to the screen after what has gone on in the game’.

“I didn’t want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had.”

Dean became a dedicated Premier League VAR last season after hanging up his whistle at the end of the 2021-22 campaign after referring over 550 matches in the top flight.

He was stood down from VAR duty for two months after the Stamford Bridge incident.

Wirral-born Dean subsequently brought an end to his 28-year career as a professional official because being in the VAR hot seat was something he ended up “dreading”.

Dean added: “That was a major error. If they don’t score from the corner it is not as big an issue.

“But I knew full well then I would be stood down the week after. I asked to take a bit of time off because it wasn’t for me.

“I used to get in the car on a Friday and was dreading Saturday. I was thinking, ‘I hope nothing happens’. I used to be petrified sitting in the chair.”

The VAR has been widely accepted worldwide since its introduction by FIFA and UEFA to help fight mistakes by match officials.

And according to the Heart of Lions President anything that will help minimise mistakes in the local game should be encouraged.

He added that the introduction of the VAR will give referees a second chance to see incidents they have made decisions on in split seconds but added that the VAR will not completely eradicate refereeing controversies in the league as can be seen in the Premier League.

“Anything that would be introduced which is capable of minimizing the mistakes must be encouraged,” he told Asempa FM on the Sports Nite Show.

“At least for some key decisions, there would be a second eye but that alone can’t eradicate controversies as we’ve seen in other competitions like the English Premier League,” he added.

The GFA, before the start of the ongoing 2022/23 Ghana Premier League, announced that there are plans to introduce the VAR.

Match officials have been criticized for some decisions in the ongoing 2022/23 Ghana Premier League season and other competitions organised by the Football Association.

According to Prosper Harrison Addo, who is the General Secretary of the FA, FIFA is working on a less expensive version of VAR that could be used in Ghana.

“It is not true that FIFA has written to us about VAR. We were on a project to do VAR, but the VAR that is approved by FIFA is very expensive,” said Addo in an interview with Accra-based Angel FM.

“It is not just about bringing the machine, but you will train people, train referees, and the setup is heavy and expensive. So, at the last congress in Rwanda, the FIFA President himself said that FIFA is going to develop another version that will be less expensive.

“We are on that project with FIFA, and they haven’t written to us that we should do live matches at all centres,” Addo added.

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The technology has been used in top football leagues around the world, including the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Champions League and Europa League games.

The VAR has been widely implemented in world football since its introduction.

Mr Kotey, speaking in an interview, explained that the delay in implementing the VAR system has been due to funding and FIFA introducing a different technology for African countries.

He added that Ghana is the only country from the WAFU Zone B to have started the VAR project since it was approved for use by FIFA.

“For me, I’m saying that, give and take, by 2023 we should see VAR in Ghana,” Mr Kotey said in an interview with Joy Sports.

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VAR was used in Ghana for the first time during the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff first leg game against Nigeria in Kumasi.

However, the Ghana Premier League is yet to have a taste of the technology despite the GFA’s insistence that VAR will soon be used in the domestic league.

Last year, the FA announced that FIFA had approved the Project Team for the implantation of the VAR in Ghana.

Meanwhile, the 2022/23 Ghana Premier League will kick off this weekend with betPawa injecting $6 million sponsorship for the next three years.

We were all very curious to see the outcome, but I must admit also a little bit nervous. It was the first time after all!

I remember sitting in a small van outside of the stadium in Bari with the new FIFA President Gianni Infantino. This is where the technology was located, and I was showing Gianni how the VAR was working.

How far we have come since then!

That was on September 1, 2016, and in the six years since, VAR has not brought the “end of football”, as some reported at the time, but instead it is now part of the fabric of our sport, and it is hard to imagine football without it.

I remember the first time we discussed such a technology, aiming to prevent incorrect match-changing decisions on the field. We were at an IFAB meeting in Belfast in 2014 and the idea was first considered.
It seemed like a daydream at the time, but it took just two years to go from being just an idea to being implemented at the top level of football that night in Bari.

Bari went well– I remember that there was an early decision that the referee Bjorn Kuipers was assisted by the VAR – but it was a major challenge to get ready in less than two years for the FIFA World Cup 2018TM.
VAR was only being used in a few countries and there were very few match officials with huge experience of the technology.

But FIFA Refereeing and the FIFA Department for Technology and Innovation worked extremely hard, and VAR at the FIFA World Cup 2018TM was a huge success, and it was the best possible answer to those who were waiting for failure. They were left disappointed.

Gianni and I always had great confidence that VAR would be a success and bring more fairness to football matches. We have been proven right in this respect.

The world governing body has contracted the best companies in the world to deploy the technology in Cape Coast and Abuja where the two matches will be played between the two top sides.

It will be the first time in the history of both stadiums in Cape Coast and Abuja that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) would be deployed as a measure to avoid any controversies.

Indeed all the matches to be played in the final round of matches for Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers will see the implementation of the VAR after CAF’s “successful use of VAR in 2022 AFCON, CAF Champions league, CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Women’s Champions League”.

In the meantime, Fifa president Gianni Infantino made it clear at the 13th Extraordinary General Assembly meeting in Cairo last year that: “The final phase in the African World Cup qualifiers will witness an improvement in refereeing performances because of VAR.”

“We have introduced VAR to aid referees as it can be difficult to become an official. It’s our job to provide the referees with the proper environment to perform to their highest level.”

Refereeing in Africa has been in the news following a controversial penalty given the nation of Ghana in a match against South Africa by Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguitta.

The Black Stars booked their place in the play-off round after an 1-0 win over Bafana Bfana as an outcome on Cape Coast Stadium. Cape Coast Stadium.

The teams in the playoffs are Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco.

Five of them following their playoffs, will be representing Africa at the finals next year, which will be held in Qatar.

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The VAR implementation is to ensure fairness when officiating between West African rivals.

In addition to fierce rivalry there is a lot at stake in these playoffs with prize money that is at least $12 million each of the five teams that are set to represent Africa in Qatar in the coming months.

The Black Stars will host the Super Eagles on March 25 in Cape Coast.

The reverse game will be played in Abuja four days later.

The decision was announced during a meeting held on Monday, April 12, 2021 on modalities for the implementation of VAR in Ghana.

In the meeting, the FIFA Technical Team approved a project team for Ghana, which is the second key step in the implementation process of the FIFA approved VAR.

The FIFA VAR Project team includes a Project leader and officers with knowledge in Legal, Information Technology, Communication, Finance, Competition/Monitoring & Research, Club license and Security as well as Technical and Training areas.

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The GFA VAR Project Team approved by FIFA is made up of:

Project leader – Alex

Legal – Prosper Harrison-Addo.

Finance- Eyram Dzikunu

Communications -Henry Asante Twum

IT – Francis Adu

Research/Monitoring & Security- Julius Enumah

Competitions & Organization – Sena Akoto-Ampaw

Marketing & Publicity- Jamil Maraby

CAF

Eddy Maillet – Director of Referees- CAF

Jerome Damon – FIFA/CAF VAR Instructor

Desire Doue – CAF VAR Instructor

With the approval of the project team, a kick-off meeting will commence in three weeks’ time to approve the timelines for all the various teams in the full implementation of the VAR in 2022/2023 season.

As part of the kick-off meeting, the team will have the opportunity to select and appoint the VAR Technology Provider for the project in Ghana.

The Referee Department of the Ghana Football Association is working with their colleagues at FIFA for a smooth implementation and execution of the VAR in our domestic competitions.

The Video Assistant Referee is an assistant referee in association football who intervenes in decisions made by the referee and requests for an on field review with the use of video footage and headset for communication.

VAR was first written into the Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2018, following extensive training in a number of major competitions.

Currently, only few African countries, namely, Morocco, South Africa and Egypt use VAR in their domestic competitions.

The video assistant referee is an assistant referee in association football that intervenes in decisions made by the referee and requests for an on-field review with the use of video footage and headset for communication.

VAR was first written into the laws of the game by the International Football Association Board in 2018, following extensive trailing in a number of major competitions.

“VAR is coming to Ghana, but there is a lot of work that we need to do to ensure that VAR comes to this country,” GFA Referees Manager, Alex Kotey said in an interview with GFA News.

“FIFA is saying that by the next three years, VAR must go to all member associations and so member associations must begin to accept this concept and let it become part of our football.

“So, in the project planning, there are so many requirements that FIFA will demand from us which is in line with the club licensing regulations and so there’s nothing to fear. After the project planning, there’s another requirement where you have to engage the various stakeholders, like referees who are the main actors of this programme.

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“The VAR is in three models, that’s, VAR in a structure, VAR in a container and VAR in a mobile van. For me, I’ll be biased and go for the van, and that is because it is movable, so that anywhere StarTimes is covering a match, the VAR will be there to make their work very simple.

“FIFA is ready to support this course and the only thing that member associations need to do is to show commitment and the willingness to accept the VAR into our football.

“When that is done, FIFA and CAF will give us all the necessary support that we need to actualise the project. Though we are going to bring VAR, we need to work on our referees because VAR is an aide to officiating and so referees should not be dependent on the VAR.

“We want everyone to catch the euphoria that VAR will soon come to Ghana with the support of the GFA, CAF and FIFA,” Referees Manager, Alex Kotey ended.

Currently, only a few African countries, namely, Morocco, South Africa and Egypt use VAR in their domestic competitions.

VAR was introduced during the 2018 World Cup in Russia and has been welcomed by the various leagues across Europe.

Referees Manager of the GFA, Alex Quartey, believes the move is aimed at improving the local game, stressing that FIFA is ready to support the GFA with the necessary logistics for the use of the VAR at the various match centres.

He, however, noted that the world’s football governing body may give Ghana three years to prepare, since the country is currently not ready for the technology.

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“FIFA has brought logistics to the GFA about the distribution of Video Assistant Referee (VAR),” Mr Quartey told Asempa FM.

“And it is a very good point to use VAR in Ghana during match days.

“We have to use the VAR and FIFA is ready to support us and I believe it is an innovation which is now part of refereeing.

“Maybe FIFA will give us three years to prepare towards it.”