Premier League refereeing chief Howard Webb has admitted it was “wrong” and a “misjudgement” to disallow a goal scored by Fulham during Saturday’s 2–0 defeat to Chelsea.
Fulham took the lead in the west London derby when teenage talent Josh King found the back of the net. But there was a VAR review for a potential foul from Rodrigo Muniz on Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah in the buildup, prompting on-field referee Robert Jones to consult the pitch-side monitor for another look. Jones then decided to disallow the goal for that contact on Chalobah.
Chelsea went on win, eventually breaking the deadlock deep into first-half stoppage time. But there was outcry about how Fulham had been wronged. As an acknowledgement, PGMOL stood down the VAR official, Michael Salisbury, from the same role for Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Arsenal.
Webb has now given a full and honest verdict over the incident on Match Officials Mic’d Up, admitting that the “guidance” given for VAR intervention “wasn’t followed properly” this time.
“It wasn’t controversial, it was wrong,” he said.
“We’ve established some principles in terms of how we officiate in the Premier League and how we use VAR. They sit around a high threshold for penalising contact, aiding the flow, rhythm and tempo of the game. We’ve also established a high bar for intervention with VAR.
“In other words, if situations are not clearly wrong and the referee has made a call on the field, that call will stand or at least should stand. That’s the message we give to all of our VARs, particularly when we come to taking away goals that are obviously a crucial moment in the game.
“We should only be taking goals away when the evidence is very clear that’s the only thing we can do and that’s the guidance we give to our officials.
“In this situation, that guidance wasn’t followed properly. There was a misjudgement by the officials involved in this situation about how that contact happened between Muniz and Chalobah. The officials got super-focused on that contact, without looking at the full context of how it happened.
“It happens when Muniz is in possession of the ball, controls the ball, turns naturally and brings his foot down on to Chalobah, who’s moved his foot into a space which the Fulham player has the right to put his foot into in that normal way.”
Premier League legend Alan Shearer was incensed by how VAR had been used in that moment, launching an expletive rant before Webb had addressed and admitted the glaring error.
“What the f--- are they thinking?” the former Newcastle United striker cried on The Rest Is Football.
“You’re not going to re-referee, you’re not going to interfere and it’s only for the clear and obvious. Three things. Where have those three things gone? It's bulls---. What has happened to the game?”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Premier League Referee Chief Gives Official Verdict on Controversial Chelsea Victory.
