VAR: Head of Referees Admits Error in Disallowed Goal for Fulham vs Chelsea

Controversy in the Premier League: VAR in the eye of the storm

The head of Premier League referees, Howard Webb, has acknowledged that VAR did not correctly apply the established guidelines in the play that disallowed a goal by Josh King of Fulham against Chelsea. King, 18, thought he had scored his first goal in the Premier League, putting Fulham ahead in the 21st minute. However, VAR, led by Michael Salisbury, asked the main referee, Rob Jones, to review the play on the monitor, signaling a foul by Rodrigo Muniz on Trevoh Chalobah beforehand. This decision generated strong criticism, with Fulham manager Marco Silva calling the intervention “incredible”. The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) acted quickly, removing Salisbury from his appointment for Sunday’s match between Liverpool and Arsenal, and admitting the error.

“It wasn’t controversial, it was a mistake,” Webb declared on the Premier League program “Match Officials Mic’d Up”.

Howard Webb

Webb explained that clear principles were established for refereeing and the use of VAR, prioritizing the pace of the game and a high threshold for penalizing contact. In addition, a high demand is sought for VAR intervention, only disallowing goals when the evidence is clear.

In this case, according to Webb, there was a “misinterpretation” by the referees, who focused excessively on the contact between Muniz and Chalobah without considering the full context of the play. Webb detailed that Muniz controlled the ball, turned naturally, and stepped on Chalobah, who had moved his foot into a legitimate space.

The image of Saturday’s match was overshadowed by the interventions of the video assistant referee. Webb also addressed another controversial VAR intervention, when a free-kick goal by Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace against Chelsea was disallowed because Marc Guéhi was too close to the defensive wall. Webb explained that, according to the regulations in force since 2019, attackers must stay one meter away from the barrier when it is formed by three or more defenders. In this situation, Guéhi physically moved Moisés Caicedo away from the barrier, creating a space through which Eze’s ball ended up slipping in. Webb justified the VAR intervention arguing that Guéhi, by removing Caicedo, directly influenced the play, which is why it was decided to sanction his action, based on its impact and the infraction of being less than one meter from the barrier.