luiz

David Luiz appeal – Referees are making a mockery of VAR

Are we blind or have the rules changed? by Shenel

So it seems that yet again we don’t have any luck with appeals for red cards, as the FA has dismissed our appeal for David Luiz’s red card that he received against Wolves to be overturned.

If they have turned it down, then the least they could do it supply us fans with what they are seeing as contact of the defender to the striker, to justify their decision for sending him off. Now a decision like sending Leno off was completely correct as his stupidity led to the red card, but a non contact from David Luiz who clearly had no intention of bringing a player down to me should not result in a sending off, but what do I know!

If it was just Arsenal fans stating they couldn’t see contact then I would believe their decision to not overturn it and I would say the fans are against it because we lost, but a number of pundits and even Mikel Arteta himself have said they could not spot the contact or intent after watching the replay time and time again.

Yes we know that decisions will not always go our way but as a general football fan, decisions like this ruin the beautiful game and take away the end result of what it may be in a game.

Arsenal should have killed the game off in the first half there is no doubt about that, and the referee should have blown for half time when the time was up, but for some reason he let play continue which then led to the penalty and sending off incident. David Luiz

I thought VAR was supposed to rid the game of these ridiculous decisions and make things fair but I guess it just adds to the weird and sometimes completely incorrect decisions even more! Where is the justice? I really don’t know but as always Arsenal, you won’t ever get anything from match officials so each time you step out onto that pitch you have to work as hard as ever to get those wins. And stop making stupid decisions that will give the referee every chance to pull out a card and make match turning decisions.

If referees remained consistent and if decisions were the same for each game, then maybe there wouldn’t be speculation that some teams get away with certain things that others wouldn’t. But this is the game of football, inconsistent and unpredictable, especially for Arsenal, but I cannot wait for the day that all of these current referees no longer referee and a new batch come in, because maybe then we may see some consistency and correct decisions – where deserved of course – for our beloved team!

Shenel Osman

34 Comments

  1. I am fully aware that I am not obliged to read anything on this side and that I can skip it but…..

    Can we please move on from this, it must be about 12 articles on this now….

    1. Damn and there I was hoping for at least 13 😆
      You never know there may be more controversy tomorrow.. Chris Kavanagh..

      First thing I check is to see who’s officiating – I wonder why 😂

        1. This decision had nothing to do with a VAR error. Absolutely nothing.

          VAR is there to correct clear and obvious errors. The fact that most of us have looked at the video a number of times and still disagree on whether contact was made means VAR was used appropriately. If the ref had signalled no contact then equally VAR wouldn’t overturn because it wouldn’t have been a clear and obvious mistake.

          The FA are the ones making a mockery of football with these daft rules and not allowing or training referees to use common sense.

          VAR decisions should have to be made in 30 seconds or less. Any more and by definition it isn’t clear and obvious and most fans would accept that no one is going to get it right all the time.

      1. Yes we need to move on. But it is always painful when are losing at a win- able position. Discipline is of importance at this stage when you are playing 11 against 12.

  2. That’s the problem ,no consistency what so ever ,we all know if That was a Man Utd or a Liverpool player they would have looked at that red card for more than the 20 seconds it took for them decide Luiz fate .
    It been going on for years and I would have thought the introduction of VAR would have sorted it out ,but it seems to have gotten worse ,how that is possible is anyone’s guess .
    I would happily stick a good bet on Man Utd having a penalty given to them at the weekend ,that’s how predictable these decisions are .

      1. Dan and Sue, you only have to look at where all the officials live.
        Mike Riley is the problem, with his control of officials and implementation of VAR.

  3. One thing has to be pointed out – things weren’t more fair before VAR and it has worked properly more often than not. The issue in this case is the rule itself and the interpretation of it, not VAR especially. Even if Luiz did make contact and there’s a justification for a penalty being given, why on earth should it be a red card? It wasnt dangerous and there was no obvious intent to make a foul; at worst it was a simple mistake for which a penalty is a sufficient punishment.
    The disparity in the ruling on Bednarek’s appeal is mind boggling. With all the benefits of time and video evidence they’ll still be completely inconsistent

  4. The FA might not want to make themselves look like a fool by cancelling two red cards at the same time, hence only one appeal was approved. However, I predict the officials might give us a soft penalty in one of our upcoming EPL games, to make amend for their fatal mistake

  5. No decision goes arsenal way in any circumstances, that’s sad. I have repeatedly stated that this is the fate we’ll suffer for taking points from Manchester United, we won the 1st leg, then wrong decisions from referee led to 5 losses and 1 draw, now we’ve collected 2 from them, those wrong decisions are coming in with VAR refusing to review cases that will favour us, eg, the contact on Xhaka from Fernandes didn’t even make the review list of VAR but David Luiz get a red.

  6. Spot on Davi.The absurd rule needs changing but how long will it take for common sense to prevail.We are turning a simple game into a complete minefield of inconsistencies which VAR was introduced to resolve.The laws on offside, goalmouth melees at corner kicks and free kicks, time wasting, diving etc etc all need to be reinvented in order for players and fans to have an unambiguous understanding of what compliance involves. If the authorities sit back and bury their heads in the sand, there is a very real risk of losing fans of the game, the very people who one way or another pay their wages and keep the sport alive.

  7. First & foremost, the Arsenal team working as a unit inthe last minute of the first half should have kept possession of the ball. Even the championship sides can do this, likewise my under 17 son’s football team also. They should not need to be told this. They already have a footballing brain. Arsenal shot themselves in the foot.They also caused unnecessary problems to follow in the aftermath. Now having mentioned that the referee the idiotic VAR people as well as the FA also owe the football fans an explanation. Dont hide under the guise of “there was contact from David Luiz “.The contact came from the wolves player, whose left leg moving back caught David Luiz which resulted in both of them falling. The issue of intention in a player’s mind is totally irrelevant. Enen when going at the speed which David Luiz was , he made no contact whatsoever. So please a those officials and the referee in particular stop killing the beautiful game and let’s all have a decent and proper explanation (which by the way still has not been given), Stop making a mockery of the game and try and wear the UEFA badge with fairness or dont officiate at all. If this was aworld cup game,you would have to explain it all. Stop playing stupid and let’s all enjoy the game correctly and fairly.
    I rest my case.

  8. IT IS NOT THR REFS WHO AREMAKING A MOCKERY OF VAR, even though they add to it. The actual mockery is the whole ridiculous concept of having a remote video ref above the on field ref.

    That is harmgful to the games integrity , harmful to its authority, harmful to everyones enjoyment and is just a vast ego trip by the authorities which needs abolishing today! VAR IS WRONG, IN CONCEPT, SIMPLE AS THAT.

    It has spoilt the game and has not a single thing in its favour. Not one!

  9. And some here still thinks that the refs&fa are unbiased,cancelling the saints red card&upholding ours for same type of incident.am hugely disappointed&they are making me lose interest in watching the next games because i don’t know the stupid biased decision the fa&refs will make next&the most painful thing is that some arsenal fans sees nothing wrong with it perhaps because they wouldn’t like to see their fellow countrymen labelled as biased or corrupt

  10. I originally thought VAR was supposed to completely cast out any doubt and give a clear decisive view to help refs make an informed decision?.. As it turns out, it’s an excuse to have a breather and for the FA to make a few quid on the side! 🤣 🤣

    1. Only because it is not implemented in the UK, the same way it is used in Europe. Mike Riley won’t have allow it!

  11. EPL refs are nowadays, almost to a man, awful. This is endorsed by how few from the EPL are selected for international competition. VAR was brought in to provide facts to aid decisions, not opinions. The games laws have been tinkered with continuously since VAR came in because it’s sheer precision demanded it. We used to argue about 6 inches for offside. We still argue, but about half in inch. Laws are now either too vague (the “clear and obvious error” rule on VAR) or too strict. Our low standard on-pitch refs are making bad decisions believing VAR will correct if theyre wrong. Our low standard VAR refs are misreading the clear error guidance and refusing to overrule errors. All compounded by refs, through fear of censure, not using common sense but rather following the letter of badly written laws which were only intended for specific situation, but are being applied to all.

  12. I don’t believe refs are inherantly biased. But I do believe that they can become subconsciously biased during games. Intimidation by players or crowds, constant bad tackles or whingeing can cause a ref to become more biased towards or against certain teams on the day. Human nature will out…

    1. Or even against certain players like Luiz who already had a history with penalties and red cards. Would a maguire be sent off for that?

      1. Kstix, so correct…what I also find absurd is that some are saying that VAR is the cause!!!
        It hasn’t spoilt the game of rugby union/league for instance…simply because they use it correctly.
        Why does the English FA and it’s referess insist on using it differently to all other european countries?
        Riley insisted that his band of brothers were not to use pitchside technology at the beginning.
        WHY?
        It’s because this man Riley truly believes he has all the answers, when in actual fact, he and the FA have made our league the laughing stock of football.
        So many instances of “one rule for us and one rule for our opponents” have been highlighted already this season and it has been exposed completely by the appeal from Southampton being upheld, while ours was not…despite every person in the media, fans and pundits saying they were exactly the same pathetic decision.
        Of course there is a vendetta against our club and citing one match or another doesn’t change that stark reality.

        1. Spot on Ken1945. VAR isn’t the problem and has actually improved every other sport it is used – baseball, rugby, cricket, American Football, ice hockey. With remarkably no controversy.

          The problem is the way it’s being used by the muppets in charge.

        2. This Ken is where someone like Mr Wenger would come in and clean this corrupt lot up .
          A proper football Man with football knowledge beyond mosts thinking .
          I know he has already spoken about this issue previously.
          I know he is FIFas head of global football development but that doesn’t involve the FA if I’m right in thinking but this is the kind of person we need to clean up our game , a proper football man with the games best interest at heart .

          1. its not that easy to clean up

            it will take some time

            alot of rules and regulations

            money and bigwigs involved in football

            Channels to go through

            Votes to be passed

            its not that easy to make changes

  13. English referees are average in performance. No wonder they are limited in FIFA’ s participation. This is solely due to their biased mind and underlined corrupt act in football. I have knew this since the invisible 50th game at old Trafford.

  14. Have u seen the expression on the face s of referees when they award a penalty against Arsenal?
    It seems these guys are all out to stifle Arsenal.

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