WORST VAR Decisions In Football History

WORST VAR Decisions In Football History

Worst VAR moments that sparked debate, outrage, and sometimes heartbreak in the beautiful game of football. From the Premier League to the World Cup, no match is immune to the drama of VAR. Whether you believe these decisions were justified or are still fuming years later, there's no denying the impact they've had on the sport.

#VAR #Footlball #BPL

[HeadphoneDog]

The fans were booing.
The stadium: Empty

[tobygoss]

Bro this dude screwed up so many names 😂

[AntLivYT]

"It was rigged that handball was called"
Also VAR: *clearly meets the handball requirement*😂

[stubalmer]

I love it when he said the crowd were booing. No crowds during covid at West ham match

[HawKster_]

So out off the dozen or so "Worst VAR Decisions" at least 3 were correct, makes it totally worth it.

[faizalharoun]

It s no surprise the EPL ones involve Michael Oliver. One of the worst referees in EPL history. He tried to make the game about him rather than the football.

[Marvarian]

Bowen's disallowed goal vs Chelsea when he scraped the top of his boot over Mendy's arm when jumping over him is by far the worst I've seen when West Ham's involved.

[MrFc-ud]

No way he said Kane’s tackle was “high” when he hit Robertson’s foot
😂😂😂😂

[achimsinn]

In Germany's Bundesliga there was a match where the ref took half of the halftimebreak to evaluate VAR, then had both teams enter the pitch mid halftimebreak to perform the penalty he gave after reviewing VAR and after that sent them back to continue the break. According ot experts this was within the rules as written, but at the same time everybody watching it just knew this was wrong.

[ozgecko]

You are so biased 😂😂😂😂 you are so obviously a Liverpool fan 😂😂😂😂

[pkmeister]

Referee of 10 years now... I figured I'd make this comment to explain most of these calls, since people have a tendency to favor their opinions rather than the rules. Whoever wrote and approved the script for this really needs to learn the Laws Of The Game (LOTG) and also work on their wording. Also, I'd like to mention that I do not necessarily "agree" with the way the systems work but, in situations where rules exist for a sport, they must be upheld 100% of the way and I am simply explaining them. Some of these were good. Some were not. Let's touch on every call in this video and see which ones were correct and which were incorrect:

1. Robert Jones red. You showed the cleats on an almost straight-legged tackle catch Bissouma in the shin, with force. You can argue it's the ankle which receives some "leniency" from fans (why is beyond me). But the nature of this tackle is both reckless and dangerous. The force used was not negligible. No question about it being a red card.

2. Diaz offside goal. This is clearly an error. It was apologized publicly for. The audio for it was released. No matter who say sit, it's a true error. It was not "clear and obvious" but that does not matter for offsides in the EPL with their use of the lines (so saying it's "obvious" literally means nothing).

3. Pickford tackle on Virgil van Dijk. This one is a matter of understanding the LOTG. Pickford caught van Dijk. Correct. The player he "fouled" was offside, meaning the foul cannot be given. Correct. In that case, what is the red card supposed to be for? If the foul was given, it can be a no card, a yellow card for Unsporting Behavior, or a red card for Serious Foul Play. But with no foul given, the only argument to have is this is Violent Conduct. Here is the Violent Conduct wording:

"Violent conduct is when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made.

In addition, a player who, when not challenging for the ball, deliberately strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with the hand or arm, is guilty of violent conduct unless the force used was negligible."

Because he DID challenge for the ball, Violent Conduct is rules out. No card can be given. Very simple. It is very unfortunately to see players get injured, regardless of how. But we do not change the rules subjectively or situationally.

Also from the LOTG:

"In situations where an offence is committed against a player in an offside position who is already playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the offside offence is penalized as it has occurred before the foul challenge".

4. Rodri handball. This is a tough one to argue in either way. The review for a handball has to be "clear and obvious" from a replay. In football (soccer), the LOTG states:

"For the purposes of determining handball offences, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit".

There is a diagram online that shows that is not considered for handball is the part that is covered by the sleeve (on a short sleeve shirt). No videos or images that you showed the ball strike below the sleeve of Rodri and in fact, every single video and image show it making contact with the sleeve at least halfway. This is the definition of NOT clear and obvious handling. No handball.

5. Sheffield goal denied. Firstly, this should not be in the video as this has nothing to do with VAR. Yes, this was something that unfortunately occurred and camera angles were there to prove it should have been given. As you mentioned, there was a malfunction with the technology occurred. In the EPL, the use of Goal Line Technology is used, not VAR. They technically cannot intervene to change anything. The best that we can hope for is the Assistant Referee has a clear angle that allows them to call the goal (if they're even allowed to at this point in the EPL) and then play gets stopped to award the goal. I doubt this would happen though because the Goal Line Technology would've been initially used to "disprove" the AR's call. Ultimately, this is extremely unfortunate and I personally hope they can create a method of preventing this in the future.

6. Red card for Balbuena. Balbuena definitely did not mean to stamp onto the leg of Chilwell. Intention is not assessed by referees. We simply look at the facts. Was the a stamp onto the leg? Yes. Was is negligible force? According to the referees and honestly anyone who has a working set of eyes, that's a pretty hard step onto the leg. As I mentioned previously, we do not change the rules subjectively or situationally. It's a red card.

7. Iran penalty. This one I can agree with the protests about. The distance from the ball was very small. The player's arm was in what I personally think is a natural position. In today's world, that wouldn't be given as a penalty. I don't believe the 2018 LOTG rules had any different things stated about handball. Unless they deemed the arm to be in an unnatural position, this appears to be a blunder.

8. Mitoma penalty controversy. This one seems to be a blunder as well (see, I can admit when something seems wrong). Initially it looks like Hojbjerg had a possible touch on the ball. The angle from the players' front (if you watch the slightly longer clip) does not show a clear touch or lack of a touch on the ball. If you slow it down, it appears like there may have been a VERY SLIGHT touch, though I'll be honest that I don't believe there was. In this case, VAR is looking to disprove a no-penalty which would mean clear and obvious no touch by the defender. They couldn't, so the call will stand as is. Personally I believe that this should have been because I don't believe there was a touch by the defender but I also fall into that "subjectively or situationally" category.

9. Kane no red card. First off, do not use the word "intent". Players, fans, and officials cannot truly know intent and cannot base decisions on intent. Now, in terms of the tackle... it is definitely a high boot, studs up, fast and aggressive challenge. I can agree that this should be a red card. The minimal contact made may have saved him in this case but I do believe that in any logical situation, a player would rather avoid getting hit by that than to suffer a potential injury.

10. Estupinan offsides. The lines do not lie. Are they in the right place? That's up to your opinion but I do think they may have put the lines on the wrong defender. As long as they checked both defenders with the lines to determine who was further, they're justified. I believe this one was also addressed in some form publicly. In the end, a better angle would've helped a lot, though.

11. Handball penalty call against Newcastle. A deflection off the side of a player from such a close proximity, into the elbow of their arm in a natural position of the elbow, should not be called a handball. This one was a shocker.

12. Handball against Uruguay. I'm not sure why this was deemed "unnaturally" positioned. A player sliding will break their fall with their arm and I think the position of the arm is in a position that is being used for support and not for the intent of contacting the ball.

13. Griezmann offside. This is a little confusing but it is upheld with some simple wording and understanding. It's tricky though, I will admit.

"A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalized on becoming involved in active play by gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent by preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision..."

Was Griezmann obstructing the play in any of these ways? No. Did he gain an advantage from a play that occurred while he started in an offside position? Yes. Did the player deliberately play the ball? Well, the wording for what constitutes "deliberate play of the ball" includes "has control of the ball with the possibility of passing the ball to a team-mate, gaining possession of the ball, or clearing the ball". That means you have no pressure and you're playing a controlled play (with the exception that you try to play a controlled play and simply mishit it). The defender had pressure and had to act instinctively rather than deliberately, leading to his offside opponent getting an advantage on his non-deliberate play. Offsides should be awarded.

---

Again, I'd say the wording needs to be very specific when talking about the LOTG since many arguments people put up these days get indirectly proven correct by their arguments themselves! I truly do hope that fans become more aware of various Laws and I also hope they become simpler to understand in the future!

[paulodanga]

That balbuena stamp on chilwell deserved a redcard and var got it spot on

[MrDryVice]

The only call I agree with is the one for Pickford not getting punished. The challenge occurred during a time where play should have been cancelled due to the offside.

[johnsteinmann]

I work in the Gambling Industry one of our key objectives is to be open and honest....VAR needs this the only way VAR could work is if we had live microphone from the VAR as it happens...open and honest

[karlharvey]

That rodri handball still p!$$es me off even micah richards was calling it a clear handball, corruption at its fimest

[JoseSilva-bguz]

Wanna see bad VAR decisions just watch every wolfes games lol

[comedyxz]

The editing was so on point great video

[rwolves]

Bloody hell, all of these and not 1 wolves incident. You could make a whole series about times we've been robbed by cheating officials.

[adelefairclough-kzik]

I just noticed this guy has 263 subscribers I was expecting around 1.24M😮

[Topiaza_-enby]

there is one that happened in the chelsea vs mancity fa cup semi final game where grealish did a handball in the box and it was never counted which made chealsea lose the game