Premier League video assistant referee chief Neil Swarbrick is to leave his role at the end of the season. Swarbrick moved on to lead video assistant referee duties after his on-field career came to an end in 2018. The 57-year-old has spearheaded VAR's implementation in the top flight. But he has now opted to retire amid a period of change at PGMOL triggered by the arrival of Howard Webb as chief refereeing officer. Former World Cup final referee Webb returned to English football to take up the newly created role at the end of 2022 after five years in the United States. The VAR system has endured frequent controversies since being introduced into the Premier League from the start of the 2019-20 campaign. Earlier this month Lee Mason left PGMOL following his VAR error during Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brentford. Mason failed to draw the lines to check for offside on Ivan Toney's equaliser for the Bees and left his post just days later. Another official, John Brooks, was dropped as VAR operator for the Merseyside derby and Manchester City's top-of-the-table visit to Arsenal after wrongly disallowing a Brighton goal at Crystal Palace. This move in itself is regarded as being distinct from the furore in recent weeks that led to Mason's immediate departure from PGMOL on 17 February. However, it is part of the immense change at the organisation and the direction of travel. Webb is determined to make officials more transparent and accountable and if that means making tough decisions, that is what he will do. VAR has been a particular issue, although some of the bolder moves, including announcing decisions to fans in stadiums, are only within the remit of international rule-making body IFAB, whose annual meeting is in central London on Saturday. (Source: BBC)
In the recent Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham, referee Stuart Attwell caused VAR confusion by overturning Ziyech red card. Just before half-time, players from both sides squared up to each other. After a long period of deliberation, referee Stuart Attwell sent off Hakim Ziyech on the advice of his assistant, Darren Cann, alongside input from the VAR, Paul Tierney. However, after the red card was shown the VAR immediately instigated a review for a clear and obvious error. VAR decision: Red card cancelled. With the way VAR operates, everyone is left guessing - and indeed assuming this was an error in process by the officials. Yet despite all this, VAR protocol was followed to the letter. This wasn't a situation wrong on the pitch or in the VAR room. In short, even though the VAR doesn't think Ziyech's actions are a red-card offence, he cannot tell Attwell they aren't a red-card offence before Attwell has decided whether or not they are a red-card offence. Fans, pundits and indeed the match commentators (who can hear the VAR but, crucially, not the referee) were left to fill in the blanks. Until FIFA and the IFAB finally embrace the need to share the conversations between referee and VAR as they happen - both on TV and inside the stadium - the gap in understanding and acceptance will only widen.
Attwell books Havertz for an initial challenge on Richarlison before the flare up, when he took a swipe at the Tottenham striker in an attempt to trip him. Ziyech then tried to tackle Richarlison and may have won the ball. Despite the ensuing melee, Ziyech isn't considered to have committed any offence at this point. The VAR cannot tell Attwell that Ziyech should have been booked. The only way the VAR could intervene on this aspect is if Attwell had incorrectly cautioned Havertz for the challenge made by Ziyech, then the yellow could have been switched to Ziyech on mistaken identity. This could technically have resulted in Ziyech still being sent off - the red card being downgraded to yellow for the push, and the yellow shown to Havertz transferred to him. Why did the VAR help issue a red card, only to then advise it was wrong? Attwell had turned to his left just as Ziyech raised his hand toward Royal and didn't see it. It's Cann who believed he saw the hand straight into the face from a Chelsea player. A cornerstone of the VAR process is a referee must always take a decision first. So, the VAR cannot make any suggestion about a possible sanction before the referee has made his own decision, but the VAR can help with identification. Ergo, a VAR can tell the referee who the offender was, but he couldn't tell the referee if he should or shouldn't show a red card. Attwell will say to Tierney he's going to show a red card, but ask for confirmation who that player is. Once Attwell has shown the red card to Ziyech, that then brings the VAR into play for a review of the decision. This situation was unlike many others. Though it took 4½ minutes, only the final 1½ minutes actually involved the VAR process - the other three were used up by the melee, discussions among the match officials and the disciplinary action. The only difference to a normal situation is that Cann couldn't identify Ziyech; the aid of the VAR was needed for that. If you shift the process to a VAR giving his opinion on a decision before a referee has made his own mind up, then the VAR becomes the de-facto referee. The on-field decision has to remain the most important element. As Ziyech clearly didn't push Royal directly in the face, his hand slipping off the Spurs player's shoulder, a red card can be viewed as a clear and obvious error. Imagine if we were allowed to hear Attwell say to the VAR he has a red-card offence and could the VAR please confirm the player's identity? And then we hear the VAR immediately initiate the review for the error? We'd all know exactly what had happened and articles like this might not be so necessary. There will always be complicated reviews, the kind that aren't going to be explained by a referee reading out their final decision pitch side, which FIFA and the IFAB think will solve the problems over communication. (Source: ESPN)
