If you are not doing your job, it is time to go.
The introduction of Video Assistant Referees was meant to eradicate errors made by the man in the middle, but this weekend’s football has shown it is a farce.
Firstly, Liverpool were robbed of victory against derby rivals Everton by a millimetre, and then Sheffield were given a ghost penalty against relegation rivals Fulham.
Had — as decreed by Uefa — the referee on both occasions gone to his expensive touchline monitor, justice would have been done.
NO OFFSIDE
There was no offside in the play of the game as Liverpool went for a winner against Everton. There was no penalty as Sheffield snuck a very dodgy Billy Sharp spoot-kick equaliser against hard-done-by Fulham. Then (eyes-rolling) the computers denied Crystal Palace a clear goal against Brighton.
The man in the middle is bowing to the video boss and it is embarrassing. Even the players are shrugging at the man in black as they know he is no longer in charge.
Every referee has the power to overrule VAR, but we are yet to see one occasion where it has happened. Oh, how we hanker for the simplistic rules we see in rugby, where the diminutive whislte-blower can shut down 15 hulking All Blacks with simple toot.
Instead we get glorified rich-boys such as Paul Pogba and Neymar arguing every decision that goes against them.
We only have to look at Manchester United’s harassing of the referee against the after-the-finalf-whistle argument against Brighton to see how little power he now has.
On Saturday night, Liverpool were robbed of three pontantial title-pivotal points due to a mathematical, millimetre elbow.
On Sunday, Fulham were robbed of a relegation-pivotal three points due to a penalty that never was.
Had the referee consulted his own brain and touchline monitor, both results would have been different, and both results — as they farcically stand — will have massive, detrimental impacts on the English Premier Leage standings come May.
It is time there should be a hard and fast rule about VAR, because as it stands, this is a joke.
