VAR

AT Elland Road, a crowd of 36,700 waited for 40 minutes after a ‘power surge’ cut communication between ref Chris Kavanagh and his VAR overlords.It wouldn’t be entirely true to suggest that supporters of Leeds and Arsenal waited patiently on Sunday.
The game at Elland Road was delayed after a power cut issue before the gameCredit: Getty
There were chants of ‘F*** VAR’ and much mockery at the whole charade playing out before them.
First players had a kickabout to keep warm, then headed back to the dressing rooms, then re-emerged and warmed up again before Mikel Arteta — perhaps too fond of watching himself on Arsenal’s Amazon documentary series — held a public team-talk on the pitch.
There is nothing more worthy for anyone to shout at any sporting contest than the words: “GET ON WITH IT!”
The vast majority of supporters would have mentioned that we had somehow managed to stage football matches for a century and a half without VAR — and that this still occurs at every level of the English game other than the Premier League.
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Those who paid good money and travelled on this nation’s creaking transport network to watch the match live would have been happy to carry on regardless without decision-making technology.
They could have lived without the thrilling prospect of seeing Kavanagh with his hand to his earpiece, travelling to his ‘referee review area’ to consult his monitor, while they were of course unable to rewatch any contentious decisions themselves.
Most paying punters hate VAR, a system which means they never know whether they can safely celebrate goals — and also leaves them knowing far less about what is going on than any armchair fan.
And on Sunday, those armchair fans able to watch Leeds v Arsenal live would have been in the United States, Australia, Canada, India and several other nations, but not in the UK.
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Supporters of Leeds or Arsenal who couldn’t get a ticket had to rely on radio commentary or illegal  streams. This is a bizarre anachronism.
While anyone who cares about the football pyramid understands the Saturday 3pm blackout on live coverage, why the limit on broadcasting games on congested Sundays?
This Sunday, four Premier League matches kicked off at 2pm, including Leeds v Arsenal and Manchester United v Newcastle — four of England’s best-supported clubs — yet only Aston Villa v Chelsea was screened live. It will be the same next Sunday.
This nonsense is in the interests of no one and now feels like something from a previous century, as with BBC news readers telling you to, ‘Look away now,’ when the results come on before Match of the Day. It cannot last.
But then genuine supporters — whether at the ground, or unable to be — are the last people on anyone’s minds.
It was TV companies and their pundits who campaigned hardest for VAR, along with many managers and players who clearly had not fully thought through the concept of making these subjective decisions on the basis of endless slow-motion replays.
Manchester United fans in the UK could not watch Cristiano Ronaldo and co play Newcastle on Sunday on live TVCredit: Reuters
And then there is the fact that VAR, like any other technology, is subject to gremlins — as highlighted at Elland Road.
There are no time frames in the Premier League’s rules as to how long such a delay could have lasted.
But had the power cut continued, at some unspecified point, Leeds v Arsenal would have been restarted without VAR, rather than been postponed or abandoned.
The counter-argument is that playing one, or more, fixtures without VAR would compromise the ‘integrity’ of the competition.Which would only be a reasonable point if VAR was any good.
Arteta ended up delighted that VAR had been restored because Leeds had an injury-time penalty award overturned in Stockley Park.After his team’s 1-0 win, the Arsenal boss claimed the long wait was worthwhile.
But we all know that shocking decisions can be made with or without VAR.
And the hopeless Kavanagh proved this by awarding two West Ham goals courtesy of handballs against Fulham the previous Sunday.The introduction of VAR was supposed to be a giant technological leap forward.
But those kicking their heels inside Elland Road for 40 minutes — and who might have waited considerably longer — certainly didn’t feel as if they were experiencing some vision of a glorious, sunlit future. More

RAGING David Moyes claimed VAR official Simon Hooper needs to “go to Specsavers”.And the West Ham boss said it was all “ridiculous” referee Peter Bankes’ fault that West Ham drew 1-1 at Southampton.
David Moyes blasted VAR after seeing West Ham draw with SouthamptonCredit: Rex
Moyes also lashed out at Peter Bankes after his role in Saints’ openerCredit: Getty
Moyes was left seething at Romain Perraud’s opener for Saints after Bankes collided with Jarrod Bowen and stopped him from making a tackle.
Asked whether West Ham should have won against Southampton, Moyes said: “The real reason is the referee gets in the way of the ability for us to defend.
“The ball comes out and Jarrod Bowen goes to get the ball and the referee blocks Bowen from  getting to it and the boy scores from it. Ridiculous, it really is.
“Wait until you see the angles and the pictures and you will soon see how terrible it is that he allows it to go on.
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“Maybe you just have to say that the referee was in a really bad position.
“The referee’s right in his line. Jarrod can’t round the referee to get the ball.”
Skipper Declan Rice added: “The ref was stood right in the way, but he didn’t touch the ball, so that’s why he didn’t give it. It is one of them.
“The ref is saying he has not done anything wrong. It is a split-second decision and they have scored a goal.”
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Later, both Bankes  and Hooper  missed a judo-style foul on Tomas  Soucek at a corner, with Moyes suggesting the VAR needed his eyes tested.
Moyes added: “Whoever was on VAR today needs to go to Specsavers.
“The penalty kick on Soucek is a judo move  by the player who is  marking him.
“There must be new rules in football, which are you can grab them right around the waist and you can hold them.
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“Then you can put them in a judo move, where you slam them down.
“He gets him and throws him right down, it’s unreal. It’s not the referee, it is VAR.” More

FULHAM are up in arms after West Ham were awarded a goal despite Gianluca Scamacca appearing to handle the ball.The Italian scored to put the Hammers 2-1 up and despite a check with VAR the goal stood.
Gianluca Scamacca appeared to handle the ball in the build up to his goalCredit: Getty
With the scores level at 1-1 Lucas Paqueta found Scamacca with a clever through ball, but the Italian seemed to use his hand to bring the ball under control.
He did not hesitate though and beat onrushing goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a delicate chip.
Interestingly, Scamacca did not celebrate his goal – perhaps thinking it would be ruled out.
Leno immediately began protesting, as did defender Tim Ream, with the pair pointing to their arms to indicate a handball had been committed.
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VAR looked at the incident and examined the possible handball several times from multiple angles.
But VAR concluded that Scamacca did not commit a handball, which sparked outrage from Fulham boss Marco Silva who received a booking for his complaints.
Fans on social media were also in uproar at the goal being allowed to stand despite replays proving Scamacca touched the ball with his hand.
One supporter wrote: “It’s about as blatant handball as you’re ever going to get 🤣 And the fact they checked it twice to deem it acceptable is corruption in itself.”
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Another added: “This was a double handball. Scamacca himself knew he did something wrong.”
And a third said: “VAR have dropped a clanger there. Clear handball by Scamacca.”
With Fulham chasing an equaliser, Michail Antonio scored in the 91th minute to make it 3-1 to West Ham and wrap up the points.
Fulham defender Tim Ream said after the match: “The majority of us expected Scamacca’s goal to be ruled out – Bernd Leno pointed out that is why he wasn’t celebrating. There are swings and roundabouts though, hopefully one goes in our favour.” More

FOOTBALL fans were left baffled after Thiago Silva was not sent off for a deliberate handball against Crystal Palace.The Chelsea defender put his arm out and purposely swatted the ball away from Jordan Ayew with Palace on the attack.
Thiago Silva was not sent off for this challenge on Jordan AyewCredit: https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1576219407252324353
Silva was shown a yellow card for his handballCredit: AFP
The incident occurred when Silva, 38, hit the deck under a challenge from Ayew.
He thought he should have had a free-kick, but when the whistle didn’t come he used his hand to push the ball away from Ayew’s feet.
With the striker looking like he was through on goal, the home crowd expected Silva to be shown a red card.
But to the dismay of Selhurst Park, referee Chris Kavanagh only brandished a yellow in Silva’s direction.
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VAR did check the incident to see if Silva denied a goal scoring opportunity, but stuck with Kavanagh’s on field decision.
Fans couldn’t believe Silva wasn’t given his march orders, with one writing on social media: “Clear red card for Thiago Silva.”
Another said: “How has Thiago Silva stayed on. That’s the clearest red you’ll ever see and VAR checked it.”
A third added: “That was 10000% a red on Thiago Silva.”
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And a fourth wrote: “How did VAR look at that play and not give Thiago Silva a red?”
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish fumed on Twitter: “Honestly what is the point of #var we chop and change every week what it does what it thinks.
“#Var must surely think that’s a red but not a ‘clear’ error! Even if it’s not a #dogso [denying a goal scoring opportunity] which it is He handballs it twice deliberately, one we play on so two yellows!”
To make matters worse for Palace, Silva then got the assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s equaliser.
The veteran defender headed the ball into the striker’s path for him to slam home past Vincente Guaita.
Earlier in the game Odsonne Edouard had scored to put the home side ahead as the Graham Potter regime continued to get off to a stuttering start. More