FSA - VAR Working Group
The FSA have a working group that looks at the implications of VAR for supporters, particular those in attendance at matches where VAR decisions are made. The VAR Working Group is made up of fan representatives from Premier League clubs drawn from the network of democratically structured trusts and supporter groups.
We have provided input to this group after canvassing the experiences of our members and other supporters. Please keep your input coming so that we can ensure that your voice is heard.
The Group meets with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) who are responsible for refereeing and VAR. Below are details of recent meetings where a VAR incident involving a West Ham United player was discussed.
October 2022
FSA Premier League Network representatives including WHUST Chair Sue Watson, recently met with Adam Gale-Watts, Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson from Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to discuss various matters relating to refereeing and the use of VAR in the Premier League.
FSA representatives had pre-selected different incidents to use as examples in discussions over the decision making of referees and the impact of VAR on these incidents. PGMOL agreed at times there would be incidents of subjectivity, where the context of the incident and experience of the referees would play a part in the outcome. Incidents ranged from fouls, handball and offsides, and a view was raised by FSA reps that VAR was re-refereeing the game on incidents of subjectivity – something PGMOL stated is not the purpose of VAR, highlighting its presence to detect clear and obvious errors.
WHUST had raised two specific incidents involving VAR relating to West Ham players which were discussed - Jarrod Bowen’s goal that was ruled out against Chelsea, and Michail Antonio’s goal given against Fulham.
For Jarrod Bowen, PGMOL acknowledged that the higher threshold for VAR intervention hadn’t been met given this was a subjective call and not a clear and obvious error.
The issue of handball was also discussed, with points made around what constitutes the first and second phases of play for the attacking side. Michail Antonio’s goal for West Ham v Fulham was used as an example, where Antonio was judged to have handled the ball in what referees classed as the first phase of play, and because the opposing defender and goalkeeper touched the ball following this, Antonio putting the ball in the back of the net was deemed as the second phase of play which meant the goal stood. FSA representatives referenced how some supporters feel they see inconsistencies in the application of the Laws of the Game , but PGMOL reiterated the Laws of the Game and interpretations around handball incidents are set by IFAB and must be applied when making a decision.
January 2022
Supporter representatives from top-flight clubs met with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in January 2022 to discuss ongoing issues around the implementation of VAR in English football.
One particular incident discussed was at West Ham United’s home match against Liverpool in November 2021.
It wasn’t the incident when VAR was called upon when West Ham took the lead in the fourth minute when Alisson Becker failed to deal with Pablo Fornals’ corner and scored an own goal. Alisson felt that he had been blocked by Angelo Ogbonna in the build-up but the goal was allowed to stand following a lengthy VAR review.
Minutes later Aaron Cresswell's challenge on Jordan Henderson was checked, but referee Craig Pawson did not book the left-back for the foul after consulting VAR. Liverpool fans were not happy, taking to social media stating that could have been a season-ending challenge from Cresswell.
Adam Gale-Watts from the PGMOL explains that with the Cresswell incident - whilst no foul was given on-field this does not make it a clear and obvious error. The VAR reviews the footage with the question of is there a clear and obvious error, and although a yellow card would have been a better starting point on-field for the nature of the tackle, VAR did not intervene because there wasn't a clear and obvious error in not giving a red card.
Read the the minutes from that meeting here…
The meeting took place under the auspices of the Football Supporters’ Association on the 11th January 2022 and was attended by senior PGMOL officials and members of the FSA’s VAR Working Group.
February 2021
Last year we participated in an FSA hosted session with Mike Riley - head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
We had been invited to submit questions beforehand and whilst we had a range of issues to ask, we particularly wanted them to highlight the use of VAR in red card decisions and specifically the question of Tomáš Souček’s red card and the referee’s review. Souček had been sent off 2 weeks earlier after a VAR monitor review by Mike Dean - only for the red card to be over-turned on appeal.
We had requested for an explanation beforehand about the Tomáš Souček red card and the reasoning for why that decision may or may not have been made, and the run through of it happening from the game to the decision to overturn it.
Here is a transcription of what Mike Riley said:
“One of the things that I think we're all trying to experience is, if you go back in time, when it was just referees on the field of play, we understood that referees are human, and they will look at something and they can miss something that can misinterpret it. By and large, when we took a step back from the emotional decision, we can understand that it's just a human making a mistake. Since we introduced the concept of VAR, that element of a person being involved in the process seems to have been lost. We all have this expectation that because you've got all the cameras available to you, because you've got all this technology, you've always got to come up with the right decision - which by and large we do - we get it right. At the end of the day, they really are still humans, and they can still make mistakes. Typically, where we tend to make a mistake…. is that we over focus on a specific detail without taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture.
So if you're the VAR that evening, what you do is you look at the angle that shows the elbow, striking Mitrovic's face. Tomáš's elbow catches Mitrovic in the face, VAR goes straight to that, looks at it in real time, sees the point of contact, looks at it repeatedly in slow motion. At the same time as that's happening, there's communication between the VAR and the AVAR [Assistant VAR] that adds to that mix. As a result of it [the communication], they focus on a very narrow bit without taking a step back and then advise the referee to go through to the review area.
So Mike [Dean] goes across there. Now remember, this is a screen that's the size of my laptop screen effectively. Mike's looking at that. He's trying to interpret what he's seen on the pitch with what is now being seen on the screen…the key bits of information that's fed to him is that actually Souček as he moves his arm, grips his fist, and makes that motion – really difficult to see on the screen. So he takes on trust that piece of information from VAR…actually it's a piece of mis-information because when you look at it, what he does is when he turns, his hand naturally curls but at no point is there a fist. One of the things that over years we've looked at as referees is, if a player when making that sort of action grips the fist, it’s usually an indication there's force in their intent. Mike's putting together what he sees on the pitch, what he sees on the monitor and that key bit of information, which was wrong, rather focus on the wrong detail again, then leads him into that's going to be a red card. So VAR focused on not the bigger picture, but a small detail, we're given a bit of misinformation and as a result of all that the chain of events made we have ended up with the wrong decision. The good thing about that is the processes that have always been there from the FA is for the club to be able to appeal that decision. The appeals panel, who don't have any referees on them, they are football people, [they] can look at it and actually go, no that's not right, that's unjust, because that's not what happened. Souček shouldn't take a three-match ban for that offence, and it gets overturned straightaway, so we still have the safety net of that FA process.”