Howard Webb VAR comments come back to haunt him after weekend of referee howlers

13 February 2023 , 08:09

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Howard Webb is the man in charge of the PGMOL (Image: Getty Images)

VAR had a weekend to forget as a number of howlers left managers and players fuming in the Premier League.

The technology, brought in to aid the referees and adjudicate on marginal decisions, failed to do so as glaring errors were missed which cost the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea. PGMOL chief Howard Webb, who is new to the role, has sought to improve the standard of officiating, which has copped major criticism in recent years.

One of his main objectives has been to enhance the use of VAR. The system - and those running it at Stockley Park - failed to correctly draw the right lines which would've ruled out Brentford's equaliser at Arsenal, which was clearly offside. Brighton also suffered the same issue when their opener at Crystal Palace was incorrectly chalked off.

The PGMOL have cited "human error" but that will come as no consolation with Webb's recent comments on VAR coming back to haunt him. The former referee, who officiated the 2010 World Cup final, said recently that the system should atone for errors that left referees knowing they'd made a mistake - instead this weekend it was they who made the blunders.

He said recently: "Well, the point of the VAR is to stop those situations that I used to face when I made a decision on the pitch and then have gone into the dressing room and looked at it on my phone and thought ‘oh my goodness, how have I missed that?’

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"That shouldn’t happen now, the VAR is there as that safety net, but what I don’t want is situations where there’s some that split opinion 60:40, not only in the public but you guys, the players, the coaches and also for the officials.

VAR failed to correctly identify the right Brentford player when looking for the offside (Twitter)

"One VAR in one week will recommend a review and in the same week a different one won’t, and I think that would create a situation where people lose faith in what it’s for.

"By ensuring that our VAR’s have got this skill to identify when something is clearly wrong, they’ll all consistently step in and rectify those situations that I used to hate where one look at the screen and you know you’ve got it wrong. Officials like using VAR, it gives them that comfort of knowing they’re not going to make those errors that they’re going to have to live with for the next few days."

Brighton have accepted the PGMOL's apology but Mikel Arteta has been less forgiving, with his league leaders now just three points clear of Manchester City after dropping more points. Arteta said: "You have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules. Suddenly you change the rules and then you have to change your principles."

Samuel Meade