Fulham and Wolves wronged by VAR - panel

3 hours ago 2

Referee Rob JonesImage source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Referee Rob Jones checks his monitor before disalllowing Fulham's goal at Chelsea

The video assistant referee made two mistakes in the most recent round of Premier League fixtures, says the Key Match Incidents panel.

Josh King's goal for Fulham in the loss at Chelsea was ruled out and Wolves were not awarded a penalty in their defeat by Everton, both on 30 August.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief refereeing officer Howard Webb said last week that the decision to disallow King's goal was a "misjudgement".

King scored after 22 minutes, only for it to be chalked off following a lengthy VAR review for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.

Muniz was deemed to have stepped on the foot of Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah near the halfway line.

The panel, which reviews the big refereeing decisions in the Premier League each week, agreed that VAR Michael Salisbury was wrong to intervene, with referee Rob Jones disallowing the goal.

The panel wrote: "The panel unanimously supported the original on-field call to allow play to continue and award the goal."

It said Wolves should have been awarded a penalty for Iliman Ndiaye's foul on Hugo Bueno in the 3-2 loss to Everton.

Three of the five members of the panel said VAR Craig Pawson's decision not to intervene was a mistake.

"The contact made is careless and the panel felt a penalty should have been awarded and that VAR should have intervened on the basis it was a clear and obvious error in not penalising the foul," the panel wrote.

Wolves are without a point at the bottom of the table.

Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 thanks to Joao Pedro's header and Enzo Fernandez's penalty, both of which came after King's goal was ruled out.

Fulham are without a win after three league games, and manager Marco Silva said after the game: "How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable.

"VAR is not here to re-referee the game."

Salisbury was stood down as VAR for Liverpool's win over Arsenal the following day.

Media caption,

Marco Silva reacts

The panel ruled that there were 18 VAR errors last season, with the majority coming from missed interventions. Only two resulted in disallowed goals.

The independent panel is made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one from the PGMOL board.

It looked at 35 incidents in game week three and said the correct outcome was reached in 33, including when VAR intervened.

Read Entire Article