Expert referee correspondent, @TheAthletic @TheAthleticFC Media professional | Management consultant | Former Premier League referee and VAR
Oxford, UK
Joined August 2025
- Tweets503
- Following140
- Followers2.7K
- Likes389
nytimes.com/athletic/7702321…
It felt like a quiet week for the refs - to me at least - so here’s your chance to ask less topical questions too
The best I can do is say that other replays from other cameras make this unusual act look less violent, so would make any VAR lean towards confirming the YC. That said, this angle played at this speed looks damning
I agree it's confusing, and the law should be framed clearly so that the incident today does not result in a penalty. But I have sympathy for the referee because the law makes no mention of this, and for you because you have been told otherwise by the official source
Thanks for this, which is on an IFAB website as part of a Q&A designed to simplify understanding of the handball law, but is not included in IFAB's actual law, and therefore only serves to complicate the law for everyone
Not quite. That’s a UEFA directive to its refs/VARs for its games. The WSL follows the IFAB laws only, which do not mention this as a mitigation
That’s not a defence of the decision, but does make it understandable
It also shows that inconsistent rules cause, err, inconsistency
Graham Scott retweeted
This KMI system is broken. If 2/5 judges say it wasn’t a red card, then surely VAR was wrong to intervene even if 3/5 think it should have. Based on logic that VAR shouldn’t intervene on a split opinion decision
Sat 10: Referee makes a decision so obviously wrong that the VAR tells him to change it
Thurs 14: Expert panel tells the FA that the VAR was obviously wrong
Wed 20: Premier League says the VAR was obviously right and the ref was obviously wrong
From now on: Confusion. Obviously
Premier League Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel - Match Round 6 outcomes.
premierleague.com/en/news/47…
He is asking his assistant VAR what replays are being played by the broadcaster and what visual story they appear to be telling. He cannot hear the commentators or pundits and nor can his AVAR. It may not be the best choice of words but there’s nothing sinister going on
Graham Scott retweeted
■ How did Sven Botman avoid a red card?
■ Were Rogers or Garner lucky?
■ Can players kick the ball away now?
■ What are the rules over crowding the ref?
In his latest Ask the Ref column, former EPL referee @Refsplaining answers your questions.
🔗 nyti.ms/4k5w2dA
Graham Scott retweeted
A Premier League weekend of ferocious tackles and pretty lenient refereeing. We’re told that this is what fans want, which is possibly true. But the long-term effect of too much “letting the game flow” is actually that games don’t "flow" at all. ⬇️
nytimes.com/athletic/7704488…
This is nothing to do with VAR but is the FIFA positioning model advocated by Collina. There is an emphasis on being closer to play in around the area to increase credibility, but carries the risk of being in the way, as we see here. I’m old school and don’t like it
Not as far as I know. They should still be checked. But in 20 years in the pro game I never found a problem
The law was changed recently to make players responsible for their safety, so there’s no need to check them any more