The questions surrounding the use of the Video Assistant Referee reared their ugly heads once again during England’s World Cup 2018 opener with Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday night as captain Harry Kane was twice denied what looked like clear penalties.
Shortly after Tunisia were awarded a penalty for what looked like a soft collision between Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker and Fakhreddine Ben Yussef, a decision which was upheld by VAR, Kane crumbled under what can only be likened to something seen in WWE. England carried on and the ensuing goal-mouth scramble saw John Stones miskick the ball and the chance go begging.
Then, shortly after half-time, an almost identical incident occurred, again on Kane, and again it was ignored be referee Wilmar Roldan to the bemusement of the incredulous England captain.
Ahead of the World Cup, the referees’ formal briefing to the media insisted they would take “grappling” in the box seriously and give penalties for it. A penalty for it has already been given for grappling in this tournament, with Croatia profiting from it against Nigeria on Saturday evening, beginning the question why it was missed on two occasions for England.
VAR is in use at all times during every game, with a team of four referees always reviewing incidents in a studio away from the stadium. They would then consult the on-field referee to tell him whether they deem an incident worthy of a review. Should they do that then the on-field referee then stops the game to view the incident pitch-side before making a decision whether to alter his original decision.
As there was no consultation with the pitch-side monitor from Roldan during the game with Tunisia, neither incident was seen worthy as a penalty, let alone a mistake. From the replays, England can clearly feel hard done by
