Howard Webb breaks silence on Manchester United VAR controversy which caused tunnel conflict

PGMOL chief Howard Webb has finally discussed the VAR controversy from the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Everton last month.

Manchester United have not been best-pleased with VAR decisions coming their way this season. Erik ten Hag was sacked after a mistake made in a defeat against West Ham.

The Reds also suffered an unfortunate penalty after VAR intervention in their Europa League clash against Real Sociedad last week.

However, some fans felt like Ruben Amorim’s team caught a break with the technology in their final game at Goodison Park last month.

United came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Everton in that game but the Toffees were awarded a penalty in the final seconds of the game after Ashley Young went down in the box.

VAR decided to send the referee to the pitch-side monitor, where he overturned his initial decision and saved United from a potential defeat.

While replays showed that Harry Maguire did not foul Young, there were suggestions that the original decision was not a “clear and obvious error”, while some also claimed that Matthijs de Ligt fouled the ex-United captain.

Maguire himself admitted to Jordon Pickford, Everton goalkeeper and England teammate, that he didn’t think VAR would overturn the decision. Other players from both teams debated the incident in the Goodison Park tunnel after full-time and had conflicting opinions.

Howard Webb breaks silence on United VAR controversy

PGMOL came under fire for the actions of the VAR, with claims that the referee needed to be shown clearer angles of De Ligt’s actions on the pitch-side monitor.

Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer of the PGMOL, has finally commented on the incident on the latest episode of Sky Sports’ Match Officials Mic’d Up.

The ex-Premier League referee believed that the on-field official should have been shown better angles by those operating VAR, but also says that the right decision was made in the end anyway as there was not enough contact from Maguire or De Ligt to warrant Young’s fall.

“The referee clearly penalised Maguire in this situation. He believed Maguire pulled Young with his left hand and he describes that,” began Webb.

“The VAR knows that and it will be the starting point of the check. When the VAR looks at it, Maguire doesn’t do what the referee perceives him to have done in real-time. He sees a touch, but not a pull by Maguire. There’s no lower-body contact either.

“Young steps over Maguire’s leg and then spreads his leg and goes to the ground. It’s not a foul by Maguire.

“The award of a penalty is clearly and obviously wrong in our opinion – and that of the VAR. You hear the VAR ask about De Ligt and if he commits an offence or not. They’re aware of him having potentially done something.

“They ask the referee at the screen to consider the actions of De Ligt, but I absolutely accept that the angles that are present to the referee at that point don’t show a clear enough view of what De Ligt does.

“They need to show him the angles earlier at the screen. I’m not saying De Ligt’s actions are a foul, but they need to show another angle to make a determination at the screen

“Some of these angles were shown on broadcast – and I guess that’s where some of the criticism came from about how this process played out. We’ve spoken about how not all contacts are a foul contact – just because you have a small tug doesn’t mean it’s something you penalise.”

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Webb added: “We’re trying to look for impact from that action and the way Young falls forward, he spreads his legs, in my opinion, doesn’t correlate to the amount of contact you see from De Ligt.

“We don’t think this meets the threshold of a penalty in its own right. That was the view of the referee at the screen and was momentarily shown the angle from behind the goal. I’m pretty sure he would have come to the same decision anyway, but people can see he’s seen the full information.”

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