Mark Halsey: Man City shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty and VAR has been an absolute shambles again this weekend
James Maddison deceived the referee before Leicester were awarded a controversial 38th-minute penalty in their 4-0 win over Newcastle.
Maddison threw himself in the air and actually initiated the contact with Toon defender Jamaal Lascelles.
I don’t think VAR would have overturned the decision if referee Peter Bankes had not awarded the hosts a penalty.
VAR decided there was no clear and obvious error from Bankes’ decision – but I think VAR has been an absolute shambles this weekend over numerous penalty decisions.
Manchester City should not have been awarded a penalty in the 1-0 win over Wolves, whereas West Ham, Aston Villa and Southampton should all have had one in their games over the weekend.
Let’s be honest, the Premier League is the best in the world but its integrity is again being brought into question because of how poorly implemented VAR has been by the PGMOL.
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It seems that everyone is sick and tired of the way we have used the technology, and it’s undermining the league.
I still support the use of VAR but we haven’t got the implementation right.
We need to ensure the IFAB protocol is being used just as it is in the rest of the world, because that’s the biggest issue.
Everyone is more likely to accept a decision if the on-field official views the monitor – irrespective of what he decides.
If I was still refereeing I would want to view the monitor myself, especially on subjective decisions.
Otherwise what is the point of the referee?
Former Premier League and FIFA referee Mark Halsey is a columnist for CaughtOffside.com
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