The Premier League have rejected the introduction of VAR next season, instead opting for further testing in the cup competitions.
The BBC report that the Premier League clubs voted against the system. Their article referenced problems with the testing so far, saying:
“In Manchester United’s victory at Huddersfield in the last 16 of the FA Cup, for example, on-screen lines used to adjudicate on an offside decision were curved and distorted.”
This is actually not true, as the BBC themselves reported. Hawk-Eye stated that the ‘squiggly line’ shown on TV wasn’t actually used by the VAR assistant. Nonetheless, the false story prevails, and it’s apparently now part of the reason the clubs don’t want VAR.
I’d hope Arsenal are one of the clubs pushing for technology, given Arsene Wenger’s stance on it. Just in case they aren’t though, here are some of the most obvious examples from this season for why they should be:
4Red card vs Southampton (H)
Elneny red carded for this pic.twitter.com/EtTCGKY1OT
— Terje (@ArsenalTerje) April 8, 2018
Fortunately, this decision didn’t lead to anything. Arsenal still won the match, and the FA decided to overturn the dismissal, so Elneny won’t have to serve a suspension. The fact that the FA admit it was the wrong call is why I’m including it here though.
It was clear to everyone watching that Elneny had done no more than almost everyone else on the pitch, by pushing one Southampton player once (and then getting pushed back even harder by Ryan Bertrand). The referee obviously thought he saw something more, but the replays show that was the extent of the incident.
Decisions like that could easily lead to an equalising goal on another day. In the time it takes for Elneny to argue with the referee and walk off the pitch, someone could look at the incident and see it was a mistake.