Head of referees, Howard Webb, has supported the decision of the video assistant referee (VAR) not to intervene when Liverpool was not awarded a late penalty in their recent 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
During the match’s final moments, City’s winger Jeremy Doku made contact with Alexis Mac Allister’s high boot in the penalty area.
However, the on-field referee, Michael Oliver, opted not to award Liverpool a penalty, a decision that was upheld by VAR Stuart Attwell.
“It’s split a lot of opinions, hasn’t it?” said Webb.
“It’s one of those, for sure—if the referee gave it on the field, it would have been a ‘check complete’ by the VAR.
“Equally, having not given it, it’s also ‘check complete’. You hear Michael Oliver say the ball’s in between two players going together.
“The ball is too low to head. Doku lifts his foot to play the ball, and he does make contact on the ball.
“And yes, we know there’s some contact with Mac Allister as well. Mac Allister comes to him. Mac Allister is not really playing the ball either. So, I understand why it’s a split opinion.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Mac Allister both felt the challenge should have resulted in a penalty for their side.
“The VAR stays out of it. I think that is what we would expect,” added Webb on Match Officials Mic’d Up, a Premier League Productions programme that analyses VAR decisions from previous games.
“The VAR looks at it and doesn’t see a clear-and-obvious situation. You see something that’s pretty subjective and therefore stays out of it, and the feedback we’ve had from people within the game is that this is a pretty subjective situation. It’s a split opinion.
“So on that basis, the VAR, working to that high threshold kind of followed the right course in not getting involved.”