The Premier League has asked PGMOL to review VAR decisions that denied goals for West Ham and Newcastle against Chelsea and Crystal Palace, respectively.
Recall that the whole VAR system is having a bit of a publicity crisis right now.
Controversial decisions were made to deny Newcastle and West Ham goals on Saturday against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, respectively. In both instances on Saturday, VAR intervened to controversially disallow a goal.
West Ham were denied a late Maxwell Cornet equaliser against Chelsea for a supposed foul on goalkeeper Edouard Mendy which was let go in real-time.
Hammers boss David Moyes labelled it a ‘ridiculously bad decision’ and damningly said: “…The sad thing is this is the level of the weak refereeing at the moment.”
Alan Shearer, a BBC pundit, while reacting to the Newcastle vs Crystal Palace incident, accused VAR of giving ‘no help’ to inexperienced top flight referee Michael Salisbury.
“Lee Mason (VAR) is the one to blame because it is an inexperienced referee. At this level you have got to get that decision right, he has had no help from VAR. Far too many errors, VAR is not the problem, it is the people who are running it,” Shearer said of Newcastle’s disallowed goal.
In Sunday’s early kick-off, VAR was also called into question after a lengthy check for possible offside resulted in on-field referee Tony Harrington disallowing a goal from Alexis Mac Allister.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte charged English football officials with improperly using VAR only a few days prior.
“In England they have to learn much more to use the VAR in the right way. You have to study very well and be more accurate,” Conte said in midweek.
“If there is VAR, you have to utilise it in the right way or accept the decision of the referee. If you have a TV then you have time to see. It is difficult not only for me but every coach.”
