Gary Lineker and Micah Richards disagree as Premier League urged to scrap VAR
Micah Richards has urged the Premier League to scrap VAR after the controversy at Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham, though Gary Lineker believes it still has a place in football.
Refereeing body the PGMOL have admitted that "significant human error" led to Luis Diaz's goal being disallowed. Diaz was actually onside when he scored in the first half, but referee Simon Hooper's on-pitch decision was to award an offside against him.
But VAR Darren England thought Hooper had actually awarded a goal and failed to draw the lines as it was obvious Diaz was onside. England confirmed what he thought was a goal by saying 'check complete' before reacting with horror when the game restarted with a free-kick to Spurs.
By that point, under VAR protocols, it was too late to overturn the offside decision, despite it being wrong. The PGMOL admitted the error, apologising to Liverpool for England's mistake, which would end up costing them as they went on to lose 2-1.
The incident has kicked off a debate over whether VAR should continue to be used in the Premier League. Despite the shambolic events at Tottenham though, Lineker believes there is still a place for the video referees.
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"I honestly think that most fans, particularly those that go to the stand, would absolutely say 'let's ban it'," Lineker told The Rest Is Football podcast. "I still think it can be a good thing. Sometimes I get very frustrated by it and think 'how can you make such mistakes'."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should VAR be scrapped? Comment below.
Gary Lineker has backed VAR despite Micah Richards calling for the system to be scrapped (The Rest Is Football)"It would perhaps be better without it because we'd still analyse mistakes but you'd kind of be a little more forgiving if a referee makes an error than perhaps somebody who's shown 20 replays of a decision.
"Most of the time they probably get it right. The truth is whatever we think it's not going to be scrapped, they've invested too much in it, it's worldwide, they've spent fortunes on it and overall you get more correct decisions.
"What I think will help is, we need more communication. We need the fans to hear the communication, the talk between the referee on the field and the VAR. Then I think people will understand it more, we've seen it in other sports, it works perfectly well.
"I do not understand why we're not hearing the conversations between the referees and the VAR. Then they can be calmer about things, everyone will want to listen, it will also make more entertainment and that's ultimately what football should be. That would seriously help things."
Richards, though, has insisted there is no hope for VAR to be corrected and has demanded the Premier League scrap the system. The Premier League title winner advocated for goal-line technology to be kept, but for the rest of the VAR system to go.
He said: "I would scrap it. Goal-line technology I would obviously keep, but VAR has just become a nonsense. We discussed the offsides, you could have the semi-automated ones if you really wanted to. Scrap VAR, scrap it."
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