VAR ‘making a mockery of the Premier League’, says ex-referee after ‘embarrassing’ weekend
Another dramatic weekend of Premier League Football ended with Liverpool dropping points to Manchester United while Tottenham rescued a tie match against Watford. Both Leicester and Aston Villa emerged victoriously.
However, it seems that VAR technology has made a mockery of the game with more complaints emerging. Dele Alli’s was given for Tottenham despite the goal being ruled out on the big screens. After an apparent foul by Divock Origi, Jurgen Klopp was left fuming as Marcus Rashford was allowed to stand. Burnley’s Chris Wood’s critical goal was ruled out for a similar goal which ended in their loss.
At Old Trafford, Sadio Mane, the Liverpool winger made a goal which was ruled out for handball, while the equalizer by Dele Alli was given after a VAR review despite being a similar handball.
Mark Halsey shared his opinion by calling the VAR inconsistent. He said he was confused as to why pitch-side monitors are not being used to review incidents.
The former referee has been advocating the use of VAR but said that the Premier League are using it all wrong. This weekend proved to be a disaster. He said that the technology is not difficult to operate and other leagues have been doing it quite well. But without the use of a monitor, it seems difficult to come to a final decision.
Halsey lamented that Dele Alli’s goal should have been disallowed as a handball since Sadio Mane’s was. Sean Dyche, according to him would be angered by this. The inconsistency in decision making by the technology seems to be really flawed for some reason.
He also said that when used correctly, VAR can work consistently and properly and will add value to the Premier League. At the moment, though, it is an embarrassment to the league.
