The 18/19 season was a memorable one, with Manchester City edging Liverpool to the title after a close-fought battle, becoming the first club to retain the league title since their rivals Manchester United a decade prior. Guardiola’s side accumulated 98 points in the campaign, with Liverpool finishing one point behind and only with one league loss all year. But what were the most controversial refereeing decisions across the season?  

Sadio Mané foul on Heung-Min Son- September 2018 

 Certainly, one of the most memorable moments was when Tottenham was trailing Liverpool 2-1 and then in injury time, forward Heung-Min Son appeared to have been brought to the ground by Liverpool’s Sadio Mane inside the area, but nothing was given by referee Michael Oliver. Would this have been given as a penalty kick if VAR was present? You’d like to think so as it was ‘clear and obvious’ and Mane clearly didn’t win the ball in the tackle.  

Manchester City goal vs Burnley - October 2018 

When Manchester City hosted Burnley in October 2018, the Citizens scored their second goal in freakish circumstances in a period of play that surely, with VAR, would have been intervened upon and possibly chalked off. The incident occurred when the Burnley players stopped playing because they thought the ball was out of play and that referee Jonathan Moss was about to award a penalty (as he had his whistle to his mouth but didn’t blow it), but Guardiola’s side continued with the game and scored through Bernardo Silva. Surely this would have been looked at by VAR and overturned? 

Dan Tracey, a football broadcaster, analyst and Tottenham fan, offered his views on Spurs’ biggest VAR controversy and the biggest decisions in the 2018/19 campaign. “Spurs’ biggest controversial VAR moment is the Eric Dier handball to Newcastle a few years ago,” he said. The incident in question occurred when deep into stoppage time, Newcastle’s Andy Carroll headed the ball onto Eric Dier’s arm, and the referee Peter Bankes awarded a very soft penalty. Eric Dier called for a change to the handball rule following this, as he insisted that his arm was in a completely natural position from when you jump for the challenge.

Dan commenting on the 2018/19 season said, “that was the season that we got to the Champions League final, VAR wasn’t part of the league yet, but it was certainly in use in Europe”.

It was an up-and-down season for Tottenham and Dan stated that “we reaped the benefits at the Etihad when City had that last-minute goal ruled out, but we were punished by the technology within two minutes in the final when Moussa Sissoko handballed.”  

Last season was full of controversy due to VAR decisions with a total of 120 goals or incidents were directly affected by the technology, let’s look at some incidents below:  

Rodri handball vs Everton - February 2023 

The Manchester City midfielder avoided a costly handball when he extended his arm to the ball in the box, with no player around him. VAR official Chris Kavanagh did not award the penalty after the on-field referee Paul Tierney missed the incident and the Premier League claimed that Kavanagh did not see “conclusive evidence” that it was handball, and Manchester City ran out 1-0 winners at Goodison Park.

The decision was so bad that former Premier League referee and managing director of PGMOL, Mike Riley, apologised to Everton after VAR failed to award the stonewall penalty. The decision led to widespread criticism and then Everton manager Frank Lampard exclaimed in his post-match interview that his “three-year-old daughter could see it was a penalty” before Everton lodged a formal complaint. 

Ben Godfrey stamp on Tomiyasu – December 2022 

In Everton’s clash with Arsenal at Goodison Park, a great tackle from Takehiro Tomiyasu saw Toffees defender Ben Godfrey dispossessed, and with the Arsenal full-back on the ground, Godfrey clearly stamped on his opponents' face. There was a consequent VAR check on the incident, but Mike Dean chose to take no further action, even though Tomiyasu showed the injury to his chin to the referee.  

 Steve Parmenter, ex-professional footballer and National League referee, believes “VAR is a wonderful tool but isn’t being used properly.” He continued “when it is implemented properly it aids the game so much, but it needs to be quicker for the tighter calls.” 

 Sean Riley, a Manchester City fan and author who has attended over 2,000 of his team's games in 49 years, has a major issue with VAR technology. He said “It [VAR] gives armchair fans an unfair advantage over match going fans, they find out before we do what decision has been made, how can that be right?”  

When asked about how the recent technology has affected his beloved Man City he said “we have certainly had some major game changing decisions go against us! The Liverpool and Spurs games in the Champions League are standouts, where both opponents hugely benefitted through clear and obvious errors which ultimately saw them go through in the ties. But the worst one by a country mile was the decision not to give Marcus Rashford offside due to the stupidity of the laws!”  

The incident in question involved the Manchester United midfielder be played offside by Manuel Akanji before Bruno Fernandes ran onto the ball and shot, with the goal standing, and it received huge backlash from supporters and anger towards the incompetence of PGMOL.  

Steve Parmenter, on the incident said “why are these mistakes still happening? It should never have stood. I’d rather the refereeing team get the decision right rather than rush through it and get it wrong. Although, you’d think since elite referees don’t have to commit to risky decisions because everything is being reviewed these days, that there shouldn’t ever be a wrong decision!”  

  Daniel Wales, broadcast journalist for Local TV and Newcastle United fan, offered his opinions on VAR and how the technology has affected the Magpies this season. He shares the view of many in that “it takes way too long to decide, sometimes three to four minutes. Ultimately, if officials can’t decide in 30 seconds, then they’re clearly overanalysing it.”  

But Daniel recognises that VAR can and should come good. He said “in the World Cup it was quick and convenient, and the general standard of refereeing was good, unlike the Premier League or many leagues in general. Referees should be accountable for the decisions they make, managers are players are, whereas referees are too protected”.  

On Newcastle United’s VAR decisions this season he said, “A positive moment was Wolves away when Fraser was clearly pushed in the build-up to Jimenez’ goal that was chalked off, that was a good decision and we ended up rescuing a point from that game. A wrong decision that cost us the victory, was against Crystal Palace at St James’ Park when Willock was adjudged to have fouled the goalkeeper in the buildup to his goal, but the replay showed he was pushed by the defender into Guaita.” 

VAR is certainly the most controversial element of the modern game but is it sustainable for the future? The next article in the series discusses what needs to change whilst looking at the future of VAR technology.