Aston Villa: Villans one of three clubs to write to Premier League about use of VAR

Jack Maleham 14 November 2019, 19:15 2 minutes read

Aston Villa have written to the Premier League about the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) this season, according to Sky Sports.

The technology has created plenty of controversy this term, including in several of Villa’s fixtures. It is thought that Brighton and Manchester City have also expressed their concerns.

As mentioned, VAR has been involved in plenty of Aston Villa’s fixtures so far this campaign.

Against Liverpool, it took an age to award Trezeguet’s opening goal, whilst also controversially ruling out a Roberto Firmino goal because his armpit was offside.

Added to that, the technology has also gone against the Villans several times. In their match against Crystal Palace, VAR didn’t overturn Kevin Friend’s decision to book Jack Grealish for diving, and it failed to award them a penalty against Arsenal when Sokratis appeared to handle the ball (Birmingham Mail).

It seems that Villa have now had enough of the way that VAR has been implemented, with them and two other clubs writing to the Premier League to challenge them over the use of the technology ahead of a meeting on Thursday.

According to the report from Sky Sports, the clubs insist that VAR is “stopping the enjoyment of the game” and creating “confusion, bewilderment and anger from the fans in the stadium.”

In its current state, there is no doubt that VAR is not being implemented as well as it could be.

There have been several controversial decisions already this season, with the most recent being when David McGoldrick’s goal for Sheffield United against Tottenham was ruled out as John Lundstram’s toe was adjudged to have been marginally offside (BBC Sport).

It is no surprise that clubs are becoming fed up of it, and Villa have every right to challenge the Premier League about it given that it doesn’t appear to be having a positive impact so far.