VAR has its fair share of critics including key figures at Newcastle United.
The Premier League introduced VAR in 2019 and has been successful for most of its time in use.
However, there are still major flaws in its deployment throughout football. Newcastle United have been at the forefront of some of these issues.
PSG scored a controversial penalty against Newcastle in the dying stages of their important Champions League game in 2023. Replays showed that the ball ricocheted off Tino Livramento’s chest onto his arm – it was not an intentional move but the referee still awarded the French giants the spot kick which they converted. The decision turned out to be one that effectively eliminated Eddie Howe’s side from the tournament.
This season, Newcastle were denied a penalty against Tottenham Hotspur after Dejan Kulusevski collided with Anthony Gordon which left the winger a bloody mess.
The 23-year-old has had his share of decisions go against him. Gordon ranted about VAR after replays showed he was fouled by Sofyan Amrabat in the Magpies 3-2 loss to Manchester United last season.
While VAR continues to be a problem across Europe, a big refereeing error involving Newcastle has been cited as a reason why VAR should be scrapped.
Karren Brady uses Newcastle incident in VAR argument
It was a tough task, but Newcastle reached the fifth round of the FA Cup following a 3-2 win against Birmingham City. However, the game was not without several controversial decisions.
After going behind a minute into the game, Joe Willock levelled the tie. However, replays showed that Blues shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell saved his effort on the line but the linesman flagged for a goal and official Matt Donohue pointed to the centre circle.
Writing in her column for SunSport, West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady stated the decision was evidence that football can be played and even be better without VAR.
Since the game was being played at a League One ground, there was no goal-line technology in use, so the decision was made swiftly.
“Imagine VAR trying to pick that apart,” she said.
“Referee Donahue would have asked for a ruling on a very tight decision. Cue a delay while set-squares and microscopes were (imaginatively) brought into play and a verdict finally reached.
“Not exactly the magic of technology.”
As well as the controversial goal, Matthew Upson believed Newcastle were wronged after Birmingham defender Ben Davies dived in harshly on William Osula – Davies was not even cautioned for the tackle, despite claims that he should have been sent off for it.
Newcastle won the game 3-2 following a Callum Wilson goal and a late strike from Willock.
VAR changes confirmed after Newcastle decision
The Magpies win came just a few days after reaching the Carabao Cup final following an impressive 4-0 aggregate win against Arsenal.
Newcastle are just two games away from another appearance at Wembley Stadium, but they must get past Brighton and their quarter-final opponents to earn the trip.
Following the controversial decision at St Andrew’s, it was confirmed that VAR will be in use for every FA Cup tie going forward. Following successful trials, semi-automated offsides will also be used for the remainder of the competition.
The technology was set to be introduced to the Premier League this season but has been delayed until next season. Club’s unanimously voted to introduce the semi-automated offsides in a move which would reduce the time taken for a check by an average of 31 seconds (ESPN)
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
