The Premier League introduced Video Assistant Referees (VAR) at the start of the 2019–2020 season.
The new technology was brought in after Premier League clubs voted unanimously in favour of its introduction in November 2018.
Although it appears to be here to stay, the frequency of VAR’s mistakes, as well as how costly some have proven to be, make it one of the most divisive aspects of modern football.
Here are five of VAR’s worst-ever mistakes.
5. Everton 0-1 Man City (Feb, 2022)
Manchester City’s trip to Everton in 2022 proved to be decisive in the race for the title. Pep Guardiola’s side were pushing for their fourth straight Premier League title and were given a huge helping hand from official Chris Kavanagh.
Phil Foden put the eventual Champions ahead, but Everton were denied a clear penalty not long after when Rodri blatantly handled the ball in the box. VAR failed to intervene, prompting Frank Lampard to say even his three-year-old would’ve known it was a penalty before labelling Kavanagh a “professional who cannot do his job right.”
Reason: Clear handball ignored
4. Man United 1-0 Wolves (Aug, 2023)
Manchester United were gifted an early win during the 2023-24 Premier League season thanks to a hugely controversial VAR decision.
Trailing 1-0, Wolves were pushing for an equaliser when Sasa Kalajdzic was flattened by Andre Onana. The Manchester United goalkeeper made no contact with the ball, but despite the obvious foul, VAR failed to award a penalty.
PGMOL recognised the error and issued an apology soon after the game’s full-time whistle.
Reason: Clear foul ignored
3. Arsenal 1-1 Brentford (Feb, 2023)
Arsenal came within touching distance of winning the 2022-23 Premier League title but should’ve come even closer after VAR made a major error during their match against Brentford in February.
The Gunners took the lead, but were pegged back after Ivan Toney equalised. The Englishman’s goal should not have stood, though. An incredible mistake from Lee Mason saw the VAR official forget to draw the lines on the monitor so failed to see Toney in a clear offside position.
One of the worst decisions ever made in the Premier League, and so significant that Mason agreed to step down from his position shortly after.
Reason: Clear offside missed
2. Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool (Sept, 2023)
Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham in September 2023 produced one of the worst goal decisions in the Premier League era.
All square at 0-0, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz opened the scoring but saw his effort wrongfully ruled out for being offside. No lines were shown, and subsequent replays confirmed Diaz was clearly onside.
PGMOL issued an apology, but the match, which saw Liverpool lose 2-1, could have played out very differently had Diaz’s goal been correctly given.
Reason: Goal wrongly disallowed
1. Sheffield United 0-0 Aston Villa (Jun, 2020)
Goal-line technology has been used in the Premier League since 2014 and has been almost perfect — that was until Sheffield United welcomed Aston Villa to Bramall Lane for one of the first matches back following the unprecedented break for COVID in 2020.
Sheffield United looked to have scored what would’ve been the match’s winner, but goal-line technology failed to pick up on the ball crossing the line — a never-before-seen mistake.
The consequences of Aston Villa wrongly securing a point had major implications in the race for survival as Bournemouth and Watford were relegated instead.
Reason: Goal wrongly disallowed
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