Season › 2024-25 › News Panel backs VAR call to cancel Everton penalty vs Man Utd 05/03/2025 22comments | Jump to last The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has unanimously backed the VAR call to cancel Everton's stoppage-time penalty against Manchester United. The comments of the KMI Panel, seen by ESPN, noted that "the contact from the defenders doesn't match the exaggerated fall from the attacker." No vote was held on the specific actions of De Ligt. However, one panellist took issue in that "the referee should not have been sent to the monitor as it wasn't a clear and obvious error due to the foot-on-foot contact by Maguire and shirt pull on Young by De Ligt which wasn't shown to the referee." » Read the full article at ESPN Reader Comments (22) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Jack Convery 1 Posted 05/03/2025 at 21:55:12 Did we expect anything else. Corrupt as F. Andrew James 2 Posted 05/03/2025 at 00:12:37 This is like asking the Police to investigate their own mistakes. The conclusion will never find fault with them or their officials. They've admitted discriminating against the player fouled based presumably on past misdemeanours. Clearly they're not familiar with the work of Mo Salah, Bruno and Son. If they were, there should be some retrospective reviews happening... Alan J Thompson 3 Posted 06/03/2025 at 04:57:21 And just to show how wrong VAR was they've got it wrong again while making no mention of reaching a decision which means they think one of their own got it wrong in the first place, and all based not on the foul but the fall. Christine Foster 4 Posted 06/03/2025 at 05:22:40 Its all rather simple. If that pull on shirt was done ANYWHERE else on the pitch, the player would have been booked for the pull. Young exagrarated the fall clearly, but that doesn't expunge the offence. If anything Young could have been booked for trying to do so, but it was clearly an offence which occurred first.Should we expect shirt pulls all over the pitch to be ignored now? I don't think so. How any panel or individual could argue that no offence had been committed is disgraceful.If I can follow it up, at corners we see defenders impeding by holding, grabbing or pulling attackers and not being pulled up for it. Unless you are Everton of course, because if a goal is scored by the boys in blue, we have already seen that "impeding" a defender is not allowed, hypocrisy? Yet it is the biggest offence thats never penalised and defenders are getting away with it all the time. Yet if an attacker pushes them off or tries to untangle himself, he is adjudged to have fouled the defender. Every time its done, give a penalty. It will soon stop. Mike Gaynes 5 Posted 06/03/2025 at 06:52:28 Christine #4, that is not up to the referees. The league referee supervisors (it's everywhere, not just in the PL) provide the guidance that tells the refs what to call and what to ignore. For anything to change, the PL and PGMOL would have to decide to change it. The PL would put out a memo to the clubs, probably over the summer, that holding in the box on set pieces will be called as it would be during open play. The coaches would change their tactics, the refs would get their instructions, there would probably be a burst of pens in the first few weeks, and then everybody would adjust. And then maybe, just maybe, a corner would go back to being the true threat it is supposed to be, instead of a rugby scrum with a pathetic 3% goal success rate. Derek Thomas 6 Posted 06/03/2025 at 07:17:18 As far as I know, apart from Arsenal Vs Sheffield United in 1999...which technically not the Reffs fault, or was it? Not many games get replayed because the Referee made a mistake.Cue avalanche of examples.That said; VAR is a total dog's breakfast.Further more, it can be argued that the Premier League / PGMOL are in breach of FIFA rules, which state - gist...The Referee controls the game assisted by the Assistant Referees and the Video Assistant Referee(s).Assistant! - the clue is in the name.Not the VAR tail wagging the Referee dog. Follow the money, who gets paid by who(m?)?? Tony Abrahams 7 Posted 06/03/2025 at 07:22:22 Andrew@2, your first paragraph explains everything imo, and it just shows you how good they have been because it shows that there wasnt a single VAR mistake, in February.The nameless person who questioned why VAR intervened calls it 100 correct imo, because it didnt look like a clear and obvious error, which is not something you can say about the footage that was shown to the match official, when he was sent to watch the incident again on the television.Theres been enough arguments about this incident and there will be a load more in the next few weeks over incidents that are yet to happen, because a lot of these VAR calls are very subjective (hence why there are so many arguments) and until these people are forced to explain why they reached certain decisions, then football simply wont have consistent refereeing. (More subjectivity!) Christine Foster 8 Posted 06/03/2025 at 07:31:23 Mike 5# Yes, its clear its not the referees decision but the advice given to them as you say telling them what to allow, thats the problem. The extent of the offences committed in the box are ridiculous, hilariously bad because they are ignored. I wonder if the attackers actually grabbed hold of the defenders in the same way would fouls be given? I would love to see that one, you can bet your life the advice would be in by 5pm the same day... Colin Glassar 9 Posted 06/03/2025 at 07:31:42 VAR doesn't work. Last night's game in Paris proved that once more. Colin Crooks 10 Posted 06/03/2025 at 07:41:41 Its gone too far as ar as free kicks and corners are concerned. The dark arts are here to stayEverybody is at it. Some forwards are there solely to block a goalkeeper coming out (using any means). Others are there to block defenders dropping back after holding a high line or a free kick. They ALL pull shirts. To suggest it is only the defenders who are breaking the rules is ludicrous. A referee would need eyes in the back of his head to spot which foul was committed first when 15-18 players are all looking to gain an unfair advantage. Unless a player is wrestled to the ground. He is highly unlikely to get a penalty. Lets not conflate the two. the Ashley young incident happened during open play. It wasnt a crowded box. There was only one really clear and obvious foul for the referee to see. He saw it and awarded the penalty. That he allowed himself to be pressured into denying the evidence of his own eyes is more worrying than anything else. Rarely do you get an entire stadium rise as one and scream for a penalty. It was THAT obvious. At a time when corruption is an accusation so widely leveled at the authorities. This doubling down farce can only serve to fuel the flames. Alan J Thompson 11 Posted 06/03/2025 at 10:36:12 Colin (#10); The Ref wouldn't need eyes in the back of his head as he need only inform both dressing rooms prior to the game commencing that as soon as the ball comes into play, ie, the corner or free kick is taken, that he will call the first offence he sees. You can argue that it could lead to favouritism but it would be a start and teams would have to ask themselves if they wish to take that chance. It shouldn't exclude shoulder-to-shoulder to shoulder but would include hands placed on opponents. Dave Abrahams 12 Posted 06/03/2025 at 11:24:15 All that penalty incident needed was for the referee to have the guts to stick to his original decision and in doing so would have been sticking two fingers up to the studio refs. Colin Crooks 13 Posted 06/03/2025 at 12:37:04 That idea would cause more problems than it solved, Alan.Bad idea on several levels. Christy Ring 14 Posted 06/03/2025 at 13:38:58 The moral of the story, we can't beat the system, it stinks. Alan J Thompson 15 Posted 06/03/2025 at 14:41:12 Colin (#13); It's just asking that players take responsibility for their own actions. Colin Crooks 16 Posted 06/03/2025 at 15:50:44 Is it really though, Alan? To be honest, mate, I see a few problems with the referee giving a foul for the first offence he sees.1) The better more deceitful cheats will do it behind the ref's back.2) We hand the advantage over to the forwards completely. If they are seen fouling a player, they can simply shrug their shoulders because they have only given away a free-kick in the opposition box. If the defender is seen committing the same foul, he could potentially be giving away a game-losing penalty. 3) If the referee blows the whistle for the first minor crime he sees, he may well miss a very serious foul a tiny fraction of a second later, leaving the serious foul to go unpunished.Personally, I think the worst and most prolific offenders for corners and free-kicks are the forwards. They know their transgressions carry a far more lenient punishment. I always think it's a bit of a free swing for them. Nick Page 17 Posted 06/03/2025 at 16:10:37 Corruption. Actually it's legalised cheating. They put this system in to appear virtuous and stamp out all the “bad” decisions (which apparently all even themselves out, which is a load of complete bollocks). What they've actually done is create a system to rig marginal games by having supposed experts oversee the game in finer detail. So these PGMOL overlords can do what they like to swing a game, especially in favour of assumed big teams (ones that bring in the revenues to the Premier League coffers), with zero accountability or explanation. The first goal against Man Utd was scrutinised to death to try and find some reason not to give it. They should be allowed 30 s max to find a fault. And that's it. 3-4 mins is a fucking piss-take as it kills the atmosphere and the adrenaline of the players, especially the attacking team who go cold. As for the penalty, no explanation has been given for De Ligt tugging the shirt, which is why he went down. So that's just blatant obfuscation. By cheating bastards with an agenda, ie, we don't want to see Man Utd lose another game. And so they got their way. It's naive bordering on halfwittery to think corruption does not exist. Kieran Kinsella 18 Posted 06/03/2025 at 16:31:45 Moyes, Beto and Tarkowski up for manager, player and goal of the month awards apparently. Derek Thomas 19 Posted 07/03/2025 at 07:09:33 Kieran @ 18; if we win one, especially the MotM they may as well give Wolves the three points now. IMO, for us at least, the Manager of the month has always been a kiss of death.If we win all 3, which is doable, they'll probably, acquit City, give the rs the League as a walkover and throw in a points deduction for us as well. Alan J Thompson 20 Posted 07/03/2025 at 09:21:51 Colin(#16); Thanks for your reply, however,1) So what is different from what goes on now? Maybe the Ref's positioning should be to the rear of the penalty area (given that name for a reason) between the penalty spot and the back line of the box or thereabouts.2) Again, how is that different from now and isn't that the rule, in the box it's a penalty or outside the box the denial of a clear scoring chance by foul play is a red card.3) As per the Man Utd game, he gives what he sees not what he doesn't see.As for who gets the advantage, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other and on your basis aren't keepers given an advantage when their runs are blocked or they are touched in the air, that is when jumping for the ball which isn't given when players in other positions jump shoulder to shoulder?We could argue that it's not that much of a free swing if you are one of those teams that either score a lot from set pieces or like our former manager almost only from set pieces. Tim Kelly 21 Posted 07/03/2025 at 10:01:24 It is interesting that the panel ‘reviewed' the penalty, but missed the ‘cleat and obvious' kick out and stamp on Mykolenko near the end of the first half. Hackett made a point of discussing this and the fact that VAR didn't bring it to notice. Maybe they'd gone for a tea break? Ian Bennett 22 Posted 11/03/2025 at 17:25:21 Howard Webb has come out and said that De Ligt and Maguire didn't foul and played down that alternative camera angle to prove it.So there you go. VAR was right to re-referee that bit, but when it goes against the Sky favourites will find a different result, I am sure.Football isn't bent… righto. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. 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