Since being introduced to the Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 season, VAR has faced massive amounts of criticism weekly from fans, pundits, and ex-players. Over the last 4 years, there have been a huge amount of poor decisions against teams, so let us look back at 6 of the worst decisions.
- Fulham vs West Ham – 6th February 2021
We begin at Craven Cottage. Back in February 2021, the referee was Mike Dean, who has never been scared to make a contentious decision.
Hammers midfielder Thomas Soucek was sent at the end of the second half. The incident itself was strange, Soucek and Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic were involved in a tussle on the edge of the box before a free-kick, and the Czech midfielder unintentionally brushed his opponent’s face slightly with his elbow. Mitrovic threw himself to the floor like a child Mike Dean was sent over to the monitor to have another look at the incident by VAR official Lee Mason and he bizarrely sent Soucek off.
- Chelsea vs Tottenham – 14th August 2022
We stay in the capital once again (a lot happens in London!) with Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, this game ended 2-2. This time Anthony Taylor was the referee but Mike Dean (yes he features a lot in this list!) was on VAR duty.
Spurs defender Cristian Romero was lucky to have stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes as he grabbed hold and pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair which resulted in Harry Kane scoring the equaliser in the same phase of play.
Surprisingly, VAR didn’t even spot the incident when reviewing the goal, referee Anthony Taylor wasn’t sent to take a look at all.
- Manchester United vs Wolves – 14th August 2023
Now we move out of the capital and find ourselves at Old Trafford in Manchester for United’s opening game of the 2023/24 campaign against Wolves. United won the game 1-0 thanks to Raphael Varane.
However, a decision made by VAR Micahel Salisbury and referee Simon Hooper in stoppage time has gone down as one of the ‘worst decisions in VAR history’. Wolves striker Sasa Kalajdzic was clattered into by United keeper Andre Onana as he attempted to collect a cross.
Anywhere else on the pitch, a foul would have been given and outside of football, It would have been classed as assault. But no penalty or red card was given after the challenge. Wolves later received an apology from PGMOL chief Howard Webb.
- Manchester City vs Wolves – 11th December 2021
We stay in Manchester and with Wolves funnily enough however this time we cross over to the Blue side at the Etihad. Back in December of the 2021/22 season, Manchester City beat 10-man Wolves 1-0 thanks to a Raheem Sterling penalty.
The penalty was controversially awarded as Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho was deemed to have ‘handled’ the ball in the box by VAR and the referee Jon Moss, but replays show it hit him just under his armpit/on the ribcage.
This penalty gave City all 3 points and come May, they won the title by one point over Liverpool… A similar incident also happened during the same season, when City traveled to Everton, Rodri handled the ball in the box when City were winning 1-0 and the referee Paul Tierney and the VAR gave Everton nothing.
- Tottenham vs Liverpool – 30th September 2023
We once again move back to the capital. This time we find ourselves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This game was full of controversial decisions, referee Simon Hooper and the VAR officials had a nightmare. The worst decision though was Luis Diaz’s goal being disallowed for offside when he wasn’t.
Diaz picked up the ball, went running past the Spurs defenders, and scored. The linesman raised his flag for offside but as always every goal is checked by VAR. VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook appeared to say to the referee Simon Hooper that the onfield decision was wrong and it should be a goal, but a horrible miscommunication between the two caused the chaos to ensue. It was a ridiculous error that ultimately cost 9-man Liverpool a point.
- Crystal Palace vs Brighton – 11th February 2023
Finally, we’ve reached the end still in the capital, but this time finishing at Selhurst Park, with Palace vs Brighton, this game finished 1-1. However, if VAR official John Brooks hadn’t been so stupid the Seagulls could have had 3 points.
Pervis Estupinan curled a superb effort home in the first half, however, the VAR technology spotted that the Ecuadorian was ‘ supposedly offside’ so the goal was removed, fair enough right? However, Brooks had drawn the lines for offside by the wrong Palace defender so Estupinan in the end was miles onside. Ridiculous.
There are many many many more VAR incidents/decisions that could have been included in this article, Wolves, Brighton, or Villa, could have gigantic lists of decisions, however the six above are ridiculous.
Be sure to let me know some other decisions that stand out to you as being the ‘worst’.
Sporty AF 