I was recently watching Liverpool F.C. take on Manchester City F.C. in a game that was full of VAR (video assistant referee) intervention, yet there were still several obvious refereeing errors. I sat down in front of the TV prepared to watch a great match between the two best English teams over the last 10 years but was served a match full of frustratingly obvious refereeing mistakes.
Such mistakes would have been expected during the 2000s and 2010s, in an era that lacked any sort of video review, but not in the present day — with all sorts of modern technology — during a match that boasts more viewership than the Super Bowl. It was disappointing, even aggravating, to see such blatant incompetence from such an important, game-altering process.
For example, deep into stoppage time, Federico Chiesa was fouled in the box, and Liverpool should have been given a season-altering penalty. The referee, Craig Pawson, should have spotted the foul immediately but must have blinked and missed the moment completely. Then Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki raced toward an empty Liverpool goal, beginning a sequence that led to a red card being given to Liverpool’s best player this season, which was also an incredibly confusing decision by the referees.
Instead of a climactic ending to an incredible soccer game, I witnessed refereeing mistakes that overshadowed the match. I do not think VAR should be eradicated from the soccer world. It definitely helps officials make correct decisions that would otherwise be missed, but something needs to change so that VAR can always be used objectively and consistently.
