{"id":290809,"date":"2023-10-02T21:50:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=290809"},"modified":"2023-10-02T21:50:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:50:57","slug":"oliver-holt-a-replay-is-a-step-too-far-over-var-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/oliver-holt-a-replay-is-a-step-too-far-over-var-error\/","title":{"rendered":"OLIVER HOLT: A replay is a step too far over VAR error"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>OLIVER HOLT: It was a shocking VAR error that denied Liverpool a goal against Spurs, but a replay is a step too far. The way forward isn&#8217;t to persecute referees but to try and help them<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Officiating in English football is at crisis point and changes must be made<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It was a farcical error that denied Liverpool a legitimate goal against Spurs<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Click HERE to listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a crisis of officiating in English football that has found its perfect storm in the farcical VAR error that stole away a legitimate goal from Liverpool during their game with Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p>Discontent about the VAR system, about the standard of refereeing and about the iniquities of the current interpretation of the handball rule has been simmering and simmering and now it has boiled over.<\/p>\n<p>In the context of the particularly egregious error at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it is impossible not to have some sympathy with Liverpool and their request to hear the audio surrounding the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Even in the tribal atmosphere of the English game, there are plenty of opposition supporters and even more neutrals who see Saturday\u2019s error as a tipping point and view the prospect of forcing a replay as a kind of revenge against the system.<\/p>\n<p>It is hard to argue against greater transparency in the decision-making process. If nothing else, it would help to debunk some of the wilder crackpot conspiracy theories that are currently floating around.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/21\/76086661-0-image-m-21_1696277377142.jpg\" height=\"445\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool have made a request for the official audio exchange of the incident that saw them denied a goal against Spurs released<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/20\/76084649-0-image-a-14_1696276242359.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Simon Hooper was in charge of the match that has since plunged the PGMOL into a crisis<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/20\/76085583-0-image-a-15_1696276246144.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Discontent about the VAR system has been simmering and now it has boiled over\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>But while there is obvious sympathy with Liverpool and obvious dismay and disbelief about how such an officiating error was allowed to stand, suggestions from some quarters that the game ought to be replayed are a step too far.<\/p>\n<p>If there is an anarchic tinge to what is happening now, it is nothing compared to what would develop if the Premier League ordered the game to be played again. What happens the next time a mistake is made and the aggrieved club demands a replay, too?<\/p>\n<p>Sure, this was a bad error and feels particularly unjust and it is to be hoped it never happens again. But where do you draw the line? What if a red card is deemed retrospectively to have been too harsh? What if it happened in the first half, early enough for a result to be significantly affected?<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, there would be a blizzard of demands for replays and if they were not met, the conspiracy theories would redouble. If they were met, clubs whose playing staff are already stretched to breaking point would be unable to fulfil their fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>The most effective way for Liverpool, and other clubs, to achieve some form of redress for these kinds of football injustices, the best way to stop it happening again, is to improve the standard of refereeing and of all game officials.<\/p>\n<p>There are many avenues leading to that end. One of them is for us all to take a look at ourselves. If there is a shortage of top-level referees, is it any wonder when they are subjected to torrents of abuse from the grassroots game through to the Premier League?<\/p>\n<p>Who, really, would want to be a referee? Certainly not the ex-players that many think represent a panacea for the officiating errors. They may well understand the game better than the rest of us but that doesn\u2019t mean they would make good officials, even if they showed any appetite for becoming referees, which has never happened.<\/p>\n<p>Even a cursory glance at social media, or television punditry, would be enough to tell you that ex-pros disagree about decisions, too.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/21\/76086653-0-image-m-23_1696277399300.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Replays showed Liverpool forward Luis Diaz (right red shirt) was onside but the goal was ruled out after an incorrect VAR check<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/20\/76085081-0-image-m-18_1696276264695.jpg\" height=\"506\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>PGMOL head Howard Webb has had to issue apologies in the past for officiating errors<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, their opinions are coloured by club loyalties. Sometimes, like the rest of us, they differ on their interpretation of an incident.<\/p>\n<p>One way to improve decision-making is to temper the untrammelled aggression towards referees that exists at the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My guess for the otherwise incomprehensible chain of events that unfolded on Saturday was that once the VAR realised there had been a mix-up with the referee, he was paralysed by fear about what would happen if there was another delay while he informed the referee that awarding a free-kick was a mistake and that it should have been a goal. My guess is he panicked.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/20\/76086155-0-image-a-19_1696276454747.jpg\" height=\"481\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>If the Premier League wants to attract the best officials then recruitment has to improve<\/p>\n<p>Mistakes happen. Human error happens. None of us are infallible. But it is also true that errors like this damage the credibility of the league.<\/p>\n<p>Everything must be done to try to ensure it does not happen again. Recruitment has to improve. If we want the best officials, if we want to attract higher calibre officials, if we want to attract ex-players, then football has to pay them more money.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure if they need to know football better but I am sure that they need to be better qualified to operate the technology and feel comfortable with it. Football needs a \u2018nerd herd\u2019 to work in tandem with the officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The way forward, the way to get redress for teams like Liverpool, is not to persecute referees and VARs. The way forward is to try to help them.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12586045\/OLIVER-HOLT-VAR-PGMOL-LIVERPOOL-SPURS.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>OLIVER HOLT: It was a shocking VAR error that denied Liverpool a goal against Spurs, but a replay is a step too far. The way <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/oliver-holt-a-replay-is-a-step-too-far-over-var-error\/\" title=\"OLIVER HOLT: A replay is a step too far over VAR error\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>OLIVER HOLT: A replay is a step too far over VAR error - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/oliver-holt-a-replay-is-a-step-too-far-over-var-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OLIVER HOLT: A replay is a step too far over VAR error - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OLIVER HOLT: It was a shocking VAR error that denied Liverpool a goal against Spurs, but a replay is a step too far. 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