Fans baffled by ‘weird’ VAR decision as ref checks screen and appears to give penalty before ‘changing his mind’

FOOTBALL fans were left baffled after a VAR review for a Brighton penalty led to a Marseille free-kick during their Europa League clash.

The French giants scored a quick-fire first-half double to take control of the game.

But Roberto De Zerbi’s side were given hope of a route back into the game when VAR began checking a potential handball against Marseille.

Referee Mykola Balakin was sent over to the monitor to assess the validity of the possible infringement.

And after seeing several replays, he appeared to turn around and signal for a penalty.

TNT Sports commentators were convinced a spot kick had been awarded, while the graphic on the screen read “VAR decision: Penalty”.

However, it turned out the official had actually signalled for a free-kick for a foul by Jan Paul van Hecke as he grappled for the ball in the box prior to the handball.

This left viewers at home thoroughly confused.

And they were not the only ones as the Uefa website’s official updates read: “The referee is reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.

“VAR review.

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“VAR in review.

“Decision overturned: penalty awarded.

“VAR review complete.

“VAR decision: no penalty.

“VAR decision confirmed.”

Reacting to the incident one social media user said: “More time wasted. More confusion. More controversy. Classic VAR.”

Another added: “Well, well, well… VAR in Marseille vs Brighton just put the PGMOL to shame.”

While a third replied: “Brighton denied a clear handball penalty against Marseille. VAR called the ref to the monitor to give the penalty but the ref still refused, and claimed an imaginary ‘push’ foul by a Brighton player.”

It has been a poor week for VAR following the controversy in Tottenham’s win over Liverpool on Saturday.

Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly disallowed for offside against Spurs on Saturday, before VAR Darren England and AVAR Dan Cook made a huge error in failing to overturn the on-field decision.

Liverpool then demanded the VAR audio be released – which it was – before Reds boss Jurgen Klopp called for the game to be replayed.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk