PGMOL and the Premier League are opening up discussions between the referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for key incidents this season. In the first instalment of "Match Officials Mic'd Up" in 2024/25, Howard Webb, chief operating officer at PGMOL, the organisation that oversees the League’s match officials, discusses five recent incidents.
Webb and Michael Owen go through the conversations between the match officials to give fans greater knowledge of how decisions are made. The officials on the pitch do not hear all the conversations from the VAR hub in Stockley Park.
The incidents covered are:
- Chelsea's penalty appeal v Man City
- Everton's overturned penalty v Brighton
- Bournemouth's overturned goal v Newcastle
- Rice's red card v Brighton
- Why Joao Pedro did not get a yellow card v Arsenal
- Leicester's overturned goal v Fulham
Chelsea's penalty appeal against Man City
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: The ball strikes the arm of Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic after Chelsea's Malo Gusto kicks the ball.
What the match officials did: The assistant referee says the ball strikes Kovacic but believes his arm is in a natural position and the ball comes at him at speed. VAR officials Michael Salisbury and Dan Cook do not intervene.
Webb: "In this situation, we see Kovacic closing down Gusto. His arms are moving as he does that. He puts his left leg out to try to intercept the ball, which causes, naturally, his right arm to come up. The ball is played against him from a short distance. We think that's all very natural, part and parcel of playing the game.
"It's exactly the type of situation that might have been given as a penalty previously. But people have said to us, 'You're giving way too many handballs in situations where the play normally.' And that's why we don't want players playing with their arms behind the back. That's not natural either. And I think in this case, for handball, less is more."
Everton's overturned penalty against Brighton
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Everton are awarded a penalty after striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin goes down following a challenge from Brighton & Hove Albion's Lewis Dunk.
What the match officials did: Referee Simon Hooper awards a spot-kick to Everton. The VAR reviews the incident and says that Calvert-Lewin puts his foot on top of Dunk. The VAR sends Hooper to review the incident in the Referee Review Area (RRA). After review Hooper changes the on-field decision to a drop-ball for Brighton's goalkeeper.
Webb: "Of course sometimes the referee's call will be clearly and obviously wrong and in this case it was. So that's a good example of a situation where the referee's call was wrong and it needed intervention by the VAR. The intervention was pretty efficient. The referee was sent to the screen so that [he] could have a look at it again and overturn that clearly wrong call that [he] made on the field."
Bournemouth's overturned goal against Newcastle
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: AFC Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara scores against Newcastle United from a corner which is given on-field by referee David Coote.
What the match officials did: VAR officials Tim Robinson and Neil Davies review the incident and say the ball strikes Ouattara's arm. As it’s a factual decision, they inform Coote to disallow the goal and restart play with a free-kick to Newcastle.
Webb: "In this situation, the ball strikes Ouattara's shoulder, upper-arm area. It's hard to be totally conclusive as to exactly where. Now, the VAR looked at this and decided that, in his professional opinion, that was in the area of the arm that has to be penalised below the bottom of the armpit. That's the important reference point. I don't think that's conclusive enough to intervene.
"Equally, if the goal had been disallowed by the on-field officials handball, I don't think there's evidence here to say that there's no handball either. So again, it goes back to 'referee's call'. It's an important concept. And for those factual matters you need evidence. It's very clear that the on-field call is wrong, I don't think we have it here."
Rice's red card against Brighton
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Initially, Brighton's Joel Veltman attempts to kick the ball but instead catches kicks Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, but replays show that Rice kicked the ball away and is already on a yellow card.
What the match officials did: Referee Chris Kavanagh spots that Rice kicks the ball away before Veltman catches him, he then issues Rice a second yellow card for delaying the restart of play. VAR cannot intervene on second yellow cards.
Webb: "As you hear from Chris Kavanagh, he's clearly seen Declan Rice commit a foul, then kick the ball away for an opponent that was in the process of taking a free-kick. We've messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way.
"Once he's seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don't think he's got any choice."
Why Joao Pedro wasn't issued a yellow card v Arsenal
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: In the same match Brighton's Joao Pedro also kicks the ball away after the referee blows his whistle.
What the match officials did: Referee Kavanagh does not issue Joao Pedro a yellow card and the play is resumed with a throw-in to Arsenal.
Webb: "It's a different type of scenario. It sits in the same kind of book around delaying the restart. Of course, he should have been cautioned here. The officials on the field gave him too much benefit of doubt, feeling that the actions weren't really impactful because they felt that the Arsenal players were not ready to take that throw-in.
"They were a bit distant away from the ball and like Veltman, who was right there, I think when we look at this it's quite clear that the actions of Joao Pedro do have an impact. They do delay Arsenal's ability to restart. And yes, that should have been the yellow card. And we've certainly messaged that back to the officials."
Leicester's overturned goal against Fulham
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Leicester's Wout Faes scores against Fulham to level the scoreline, but the goal is not awarded for offside as Jamie Vardy is stood in an offside position and potentially interfering with the goalkeeper's line of sight.
What the match officials did: The assistant referee rules out the goal for offside. The VAR officials Jarred Gillett and Derek Eaton review the incident and say that Vardy, although offside, is not impacting the goalkeeper, nor does he attempt to play the ball. They then recommend referee Darren Bond reviews the incident in the RRA. After review, Bond overrules his initial decision and awards a goal to Leicester.
Webb: "The referee's call in this case was offside. They penalised Jamie Vardy. That was clearly and obviously wrong. And the VAR was right to intervene. And the reason it was wrong is because actually when the ball is headed forward by Faes, that's the moment you make the offside judgment. And by that moment Jamie Vardy has moved away from the goalkeeper.
"Vardy is out of the way by then and this is just not an offside offense. And therefore it was a good intervention. Different to some of the ones we've seen previously where the attacking players stayed right in front of the goalkeeper blocking the goalkeeper's view, and therefore that would be an offside offense impacting the 'keeper's ability to save the ball.
"In this case, there's no impact in a good situation where VAR rightly comes in to give a goal back to the game."
Glossary of terms
VAR: Video Assistant Referee; AVAR: Assistant Video Assistant Referee; RO: replay operator; APP: attacking phase of play.
UK users can watch the whole "Match Officials Mic'd Up" video on Sky Sports and TNT Sports. International users can access the full video with their local rights-holder.
