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 latest instalment of "Match Officials Mic'd Up" in 2024/25, Howard Webb, chief operating officer at PGMOL, 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:
- Jota's penalty overturned v Wolves
- Lewis-Skelly's red card v Wolves
- Brooks' possible violent conduct v Chelsea
- Malen's disallowed goal v Wolves
- Mbeumo's penalty retake v Crystal Palace
- Liverpool's penalty v Bournemouth
Jota's penalty overturned v Wolves
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Liverpool are awarded a penalty after striker Diogo Jota goes down under a challenge from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Emmanuel Agbadou.
What the match officials did: Referee Simon Hooper awarded a spot-kick to Liverpool. The VAR reviewed the incident and said Jota initiated the contact by leaving his leg out. The VAR sent Hooper to review the incident in the Referee Review Area (RRA). After review Hooper changed the on-field decision to a drop-ball for Wolves’ goalkeeper.
Owen: "OK, Howard, two questions here. One, I presume that you agree that was simulation, that it shouldn't have been a penalty. If that's the case, why no yellow card after the referee went to the monitor?”
Webb: "Good use of VAR to overturn a quite clearly incorrect on-field decision. I think many people thought this was a penalty at full speed. From the pitch level that's certainly what the referee saw.
"But, of course, the VAR looks at it and can see that the defender has come past the attacker before there's any sort of a contact. It's not a penalty kick and therefore recommended to review. So exactly what the VAR should do and change that crucial on-field decision that was incorrect and make it right.
"I think the officials got really focused on the need to overturn the penalty. Our advice to them will be, obviously when they go to the screen, it's not just about overturning the on-field decision, it’s looking at all aspects of it and I agree with you, Diogo Jota acts in a way that’s meant to deceive the referee and therefore a yellow card should have been issued."
Lewis-Skelly's red card v Wolves
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Wolves clear an Arsenal corner and the ball then breaks to Matt Doherty, who is fouled by Myles Lewis-Skelly as the home side attempt to counter-attack.
What the match officials did: Referee Michael Oliver issued Lewis-Skelly a red card for serious foul play. VAR official Darren England confirmed Oliver's decision.
Owen: "I thought it was a yellow card when I first saw it. I thought [he] was just breaking up an attack. A bit cynical but I didn't think it was any aggression in it. What's your take on it?"
Webb: "From the outset, I want to say we would prefer a yellow card in this situation. Clearly, the referee felt that the actions of Myles Lewis-Skelly were serious foul play.
"He saw a player moving in towards an opponent without any ability to play the ball, without any intention of playing the ball, with the intention of stopping the opponent. And the referee sees a raised foot make high contact and then the opponent go down.
"So in his opinion, it was serious foul play. The VAR checked the footage to see whether that decision was clearly and obviously wrong and determined that it wasn't, seeing that contact that was quite high on the leg.
"But, of course, we know that for serious foul play we need excessive force or brutality. And what we see here is that high contact glancing and coming off the leg quite quickly.
"So for that reason, everybody pretty much in the game has formed the same conclusion that we now form, that this is falling short of serious foul play because of that glancing contact. Because the studs don't really go right into the leg, they glance it before coming down on to the foot."
Brooks' possible violent conduct v Chelsea
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: An AFC Bournemouth free-kick is caught by Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, but, off the ball, Bournemouth's David Brooks catches Marc Cucurella, who proceeds to go down holding his face.
What the match officials did: Referee Rob Jones stopped play and the VAR reviewed the incident. VAR official Graham Scott believed that Brooks caught Cucurella. Scott recommended an on-field review at the RRA.
Webb: "In this situation the referee didn't see any of the situation on the field. It was not something that he was looking at as David Brooks and Marc Cucurella come together. That's important because when Cucurella goes down and the VAR looks at this footage, he's the first match official to see it. He's not therefore looking at the situation and judging it against the call that's made on the field and deciding whether that on-field call is clearly and obviously wrong.
"So when the VAR looks at it, he's looking at it and thinking, 'OK, is that for me a red card offence?' And when he sees the left arm of David Brooks come around the front of Cucurella, he calls it something like a clothesline or something similar.
"It has to be something that VAR genuinely believes could be a red card and therefore sends a referee to the screen for that purpose. When the referee gets there, he looks at it and says ‘OK, thank you. But based on the footage I'm looking at, I don't think it's quite a red card’. You hear him say it's not an act of brutality.
"So I think, on balance, Rob Jones makes the right decision. [He] deems it not to be a conclusive red card, but it's clearly something that's at least reckless and therefore shows a yellow card and is absolutely within his rights to do that.
"So we actually think it was a good use of VAR to show Rob Jones a possible red card. And he makes his own determination that it's not quite red, but is reckless and therefore a yellow."
Malen's disallowed goal v Wolves
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: From an Aston Villa free-kick, the ball is played to John McGinn who plays the ball across the box for Donyell Malen to score. In the build-up though, Morgan Rogers is in an offside position and is blocking Wolves defender Nelson Semedo from potentially reaching McGinn.
What the match officials did: Both the assistant referee and referee spotted the blocking from Rogers and ruled the goal out for offside. The VAR confirmed the on-field decision.
Owen: "Rogers does impact him. And in my opinion this is a good decision, even though actually this created a lot of debate as well."
Webb: "You'll see in that footage Morgan Rogers move across the back of the defensive line and position himself on purpose right into the back of Nelson Semedo. He knows where that set-piece is going to go. He knows by standing there he is his likely to block the movement or slow down the movement of Semedo.
"That's an offence. And in this situation, Rogers place himself right behind Semedo, who has to go a little bit of a long way around, can't quite block the cross that's coming in from McGinn. And therefore, the on-field officials felt that the offside offence had been committed.
"There’s some subjectivity about whether or not Semedo will get there. But once the on-field decision has been made as offside, it’s is always going to be ‘check complete’ by the VAR.
"So we thought this was good recognition, good awareness and a good final decision."
Mbeumo's penalty retake v Crystal Palace
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Bryan Mbeumo takes and misses a penalty for Brentford but a retake is ordered after Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi encroaches the area.
What the match officials did: Referee Tony Harrington awarded a corner kick, but after review by the VAR officials, who declare a material impact on the outcome of the kick by Guehi, a second penalty was awarded to Brentford, which Mbeumo converted.
Owen: "OK, Howard, for those who are a little bit unsure about that, why did this have to be retaken?”
Webb: "Because Marc Guehi encroached into the penalty area before the penalty kick was taken, and then, became involved, impacting the play by clearing the ball.
"Just encroaching these days is not in itself an offence. You have to then impact the play by challenging an opponent or touching the ball in circumstances that prevent a follow-up goalscoring opportunity. If you're a defender in this case, we see Guehi coming in and clearing the ball away for a corner before any Brentford player can touch it.
"Interestingly enough, we know Mbeumo can't touch it again because the ball's hit the post without being saved by Henderson.
"Initially VAR looks at that and thinks, 'Well there is no impact so Mbeumo can't play the ball', but then he realises Janelt is coming in and Janelt could follow up and score. And that's the impact that we see. He can't follow up to score. So that's why it's retaken."
Liverpool's penalty v Bournemouth
TV Info - Broadcasters
Incident: Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo goes down in the penalty area following a challenge from Lewis Cook.
What the match officials did: Referee Darren England awarded a penalty to Liverpool. VAR officials John Brooks and Dan Cook checked both the foul and a possible offside and confirmed the on-field decision.
Owen: "Well when you see the right angle it's quite straightforward penalty but a good spot I felt there from Darren England."
Webb: "Yeah, a good spot at full speed, isn't it? Like you say, you see the angle close up. you can see that contact from Cook's left leg into the left leg of Gakpo, which then causes Cody Gakpo to trip himself.
"But he only does that because of that careless contact by the Bournemouth player. I heard some people talk about this being accidental and therefore it's not because it's a matter of carelessness, isn't it? By Cook.
"Lewis Cook clearly is a little bit too close, makes the contact and causes Gakpo to fall when he's just about to pull the trigger, so a good spot in full speed and you know, rightly penalised. And of course ‘check-completed’ by the VAR.
"If the attacker went across the front of the defender, we might feel different. But he's not. He's running in a straight line and Cook just gets a bit too too close in a careless way. So clear penalty.”
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.
