FIFA has just made a very sad announcement regarding the officials and referees of the match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur
In an important Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, Spurs won 2-0, but there was a controversial VAR ruling that led to heated arguments.
Pape Matar Sarr was very important and scored Tottenham’s first goal. Lisandro Martinez’s own goal made things even better for the north London team. Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, and Casemiro all missed important chances for Manchester United, but Tottenham took control in the second half and won a very important game.
In the first half, a turning point happened when Cristian Romero accidentally tripped Alejandro Garnacho and blocked his shot wide. Even though VAR showed that there might have been a penalty for the mistake in the box, referee Michael Oliver’s choice not to give a penalty kick stood.
People didn’t agree with this call after the game, and former referee Dermot Gallagher defended VAR’s difficulties in judging handball cases. Gallagher didn’t think the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) would apologise because it’s hard to judge things like arm position, hip involvement, and ball speed.
Erik ten Hag, the boss of Tottenham, strongly disagreed with Gallagher’s point of view and said he was unhappy with VAR. Ten Hag insisted that his team should have been given a penalty by pointing out that the mistake blocked the ball’s path.
Bruno Fernandes agreed with these points of view and called for head referee Jon Moss to apologise and for interviews to be held after each game to be open and honest.
Fernandes asked why officials weren’t giving any answers and said there should be no reason to miss what he saw as a clear penalty.
He also called for uniform refereeing, bringing up the Manchester United scandal from the week before.
Because of this VAR ruling, people are talking again about openness, responsibility, and how rules should be applied consistently.
As calls for explanations and possible apologies after games gain steam, the debate over VAR’s impact on game outcomes remains a hot topic in the Premier League.
