FORMER Premier League referee Peter Walton has revealed why VAR elected NOT to award Chelsea a penalty against West Ham.
Tomas Soucek was the centre of attention in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw between the two teams.
Moments after he thought he had scored – only for it to be ruled out for offside – Soucek appeared to handle the ball as he attempted to block Conor Gallagher’s goal-bound shot.
As the midfielder went down to try and block the shot with his knee, the ball instead flashed past his knee and struck his hand, ensuring the ball spun harmlessly away.
A VAR check then followed with Chelsea players – and their social media admin – adamant Soucek had illegally handled the ball in the area.
However, VAR ruled in favour of West Ham, with Peter Walton revealing why the decision might have been made the way it did.
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Speaking on BT Sport, he said: “The law is quite clear. The law actually says about unnaturally bigger, making the area for the ball to strike.
“And the VAR clearly thinks the arm was in a natural position going down there as you said to break his fall.”
Walton then blasted the decision, saying: “When you look at it closely and you analyse it – almost in slow motion – you can probably see that the ball Is past his knee and then the arm is there.
“For me, I think it’s a deliberate act and I’m disappointed actually that VAR didn’t give the opportunity for the referee to go and have a second look at it.”
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Asked about the new regime at referee body PGMOL under Howard Webb, Walton explained how transparency in decision-making was being championed going forward.
He referred to Bruno Fernandes’ controversial goal when Marcus Rashford was deemed to have not interfered with play in the Manchester Derby and how it would now have been deemed offside.
He added: “Likewise, if you fast forward to today, in the law you can almost defend the player by saying the arm was in a natural position.
“But really football, I think as a community, would want that given as a penalty kick and as a former Premier League referee, I think that was the wrong decision today and it should have been a penalty kick.”
Joao Felix’s early opener was cancelled out by ex-Chelsea star Emerson in the first half, with the result leaving Chelsea nine points off of the top four and West Ham two points above the relegation zone.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
