24 November 2023 , 11:57
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The Premier League’s growing catalogue of video assistant referee mistakes has been put into context by their Scottish counterparts saying there were only three errors during the first round of fixtures this season.
As the leagues resume following the last international break of 2023, focus on the inconsistency of match officials across the Premier League is set to ramp up once again. So far this season PGMOL have admitted to more than a dozen errors to leave managers such as Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp fuming.
Yet north of the border, despite complaints from fans, the system appears to be working more effectively. The Scottish Independent Review Panel has confirmed only Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski’s so-called double-hit penalty against St Mirren, a red card handed to Dundee midfielder Josh Mulligan and a disallowed goal for Dundee’s Amadou Bakayoko against Livingston were errors.
There have been 407 VAR checks since the start of the season in Scotland ’s top flight and 24 led to on-field reviews, the IRP said.
Calls to scrap the system completely are growing louder across the Premier League with Ange Postecoglou, the Tottenham head coach who benefitted from Liverpool ’s Luis Diaz having a goal incorrectly ruled out earlier in the campaign, among several to claim that the sport is being destroyed by technology.
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Other high-profile errors include Alexis MacAllister having a red card overturned and PGMOL apologising to Liverpool after the midfielder was dismissed against Bournemouth, and the VAR panel ruled that both Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes should have been sent off during Newcastle ’s win over Arsenal at St James’ Park.
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The winning goal in that fixture also led to Arteta, who is facing retrospective punishment, saying he was “ashamed” of the standard of refereeing. England manager Gareth Southgate has also said football is becoming boring as a result of lengthy stoppages and believes it is hurting the fan experience.
After Tottenham had two players sent off in defeat to Chelsea and the game was interrupted by nine stoppages for VAR and had five goals ruled out, Southgate said: "Well, I was bored watching the game. I was at the game and it just kept stopping.
"So never mind the players. What about the fans? Now the flip side of that is I think all the decisions were right in the end. So if that's the purpose of the game, then fine, but it's sucking the enjoyment out of goals."