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Former referee and now chief of the PGMOL speaks on the use of VAR in England.
In displaying transparency, the chief of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Howard Webb, has come out to talk about the mistakes that have been made with the use of VAR in England and the planned improvements.
‘We got it wrong’ - Howard Webb
Howard Webb was speaking before the match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge, where he admitted the mistakes in the use of VAR in English football.
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Recall in 2019 when FIFA general secretary Lucas Bruz made such a claim about the use of VAR in English football, specifically its utilization for offside decisions.
The head of refereeing in England, Webb, has now come out himself to say they have gotten it wrong, and he cited examples.
“One of the things we have to do is respect the way the Premier League is played,” Webb said.
"A lot of talk is about VAR and how we use VAR. I want to use it how it was intended, a safety net for the clear errors.
“We'll say we got it wrong.”
Webb went ahead to cite specific examples, and he mentioned two cases in the FA Cup, one involving Fabinho and the other being the Andy Carroll tackle on Eriksen that Webb thought should have been reviewed for a possible red card.
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He also mentioned the controversial Bruno Fernandes goal in the Manchester derby, where Marcus Rashford was adjudged not to have interfered with play, suggesting that a different outcome would be had next time.
"If it happened again, you'd probably see a different outcome," Webb said on the Marcus Rashford offside incident, per Sky Sports.
“Certainly the Fabinho one should have led to a video review. We feel it was wrong. You could make a similar case for the [Andy] Carroll tackle on Christian Eriksen.”
Webb talks improvement
Following the development from IFAB's Annual Business Meeting (ABM), where they announced that referees would communicate VAR decisions live, Webb has said the PGMOL are working with broadcasters on how it would be done.
“We’re trying to do some work with the broadcasters so you can tell the story to the people back home and also the people in the stadium need to know.”
Webb also mentions that the officials like using VAR, and he does not want them to create a situation where people lose faith in the technology.
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