While West Ham’s complaints about the decision to exclude their equalizer against Arsenal are unlikely to make a huge impact, it seems clear that English football has some difficult decisions to make about how to approach grappling in the penalty area.
Callum Wilson’s stoppage-time equalizer for relegation-battling West Ham was ruled out after Pablo fouled Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, but the verdict took more than four minutes before VAR’s Darren England watched several replays and screened referee Chris Kavanagh.
The decision to disallow West Ham’s 95th-minute goal is said to be the biggest VAR decision in Premier League history.
It also may have sparked one of the most controversial and complicated debates in league history.
Is there a clear complaint at West Ham?
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West Ham forward Callum Wilson was disallowed the equalizer after a lengthy VAR check showed he had fouled David Raya.
According to Sky Sports News, West Ham have raised concerns about Sunday’s VAR decision and will be contacting the PGMO for further clarification.
The Hammers are expected to argue that the decision to overturn the on-field goal ruling was not “clear and unambiguous” given the time it took for Kavanagh to rule out Wilson’s strike.
There were two minutes and 35 seconds from the time the ball crossed the line until Kavanagh was sent to the England monitor.
Kavanaugh then watched 17 replays of the incident before making his decision.
A total of 4 minutes and 17 seconds passed from the time the ball crossed the line until the foul was awarded.
Are on-field officials avoiding important decisions due to VAR?
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Gary Neville reacts to the dramatic VAR decision that prevented West Ham’s late equalizer against Arsenal, saying it could be the biggest VAR moment in Premier League history
On the contrary, the delay will only fuel accusations that on-field officials are avoiding being key decision-makers, and will increase concerns that too many decisions are being handed over to VAR.
Twenty-four hours before the crucial clash at the London Stadium, former Premier League referee Mike Dean lamented on Saturday Soccer: “I’m just frustrated with the players not making decisions.
“They’re just not making decisions on the field. It’s not good enough and that’s something they’ll have to address over the summer.”
Another view of Sunday’s incident is that Kavanagh should have been fouled in real time, given that Pablo had his arm fully extended towards Raya when he blocked the Arsenal goalkeeper, while teammate Jean-Clair Todibo tugged on Raya’s shirt.
Why did it take West Ham so long to make a decision?
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Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp analyze West Ham’s disallowed equalizer in stoppage time
A misdecision that could have led to a red card in various matches on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League sparked Dean’s ire, but it was notable that it took just two replays and less than a minute for Sky Sports’ Gary Neville to declare a foul on Raya.
Sky Sports’ in-studio pundits also agreed that there had been a foul. “That was really stupid by West Ham,” Roy Keane insisted. “Don’t commit such an obvious foul.”
However, Sky Sports digital journalist Lewis Jones offered a more sympathetic view in favor of Kavanagh. “He’s just a human being,” he wrote.
“He took the time to communicate with VAR and he would have known the magnitude of the decision. The fact that he was able to make that announcement to the world so consistently and seemingly without wavering should be appreciated.”
Jay Bothroyd added on Ref Watch: “It’s really difficult and you have to make the right decisions in these kinds of games at this stage of the season, which is why it took so long.”
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West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen was unhappy with the decision to disallow Callum Wilson’s late equalizer against Arsenal.
The process is also understood to have been delayed as England considered a number of instances of holding, which occurred when West Ham won a last-minute corner.
Dermot Gallagher of Ref Watch explained: “Given the magnitude of the match, this is probably the most impactful decision VAR has made in seven years.” “It could decide the title, it could decide who gets eliminated. There was so much at stake, so it had to be right.
“Decisions are all about order,” Gallagher added. “If West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen (who came up to attack the late corner) heads the ball, Pablo hasn’t engaged Raya yet. He would have to head the ball before he gets grabbed by the shirt. But he doesn’t.
“The effect is that Pablo stops Raya, he can’t come forward and attack the ball.
“(Declan) Rice’s challenge on (Konstantinos) Mavropanos follows. The foul on Raya was already the first one. We have to go in order.”
What is English football willing to give up to eradicate grappling?
Beyond the debate over West Ham’s decision, there are far broader questions that seem far more difficult to answer.
Penalty box grapples have been rife in the Premier League this season, and West Ham’s complaints are unlikely to gain much traction, but the solution to stopping WrestleMania from taking hold is far from obvious.
Last month, Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett reported: “Every summer, the Premier League and PGMO conduct extensive surveys of key figures in the game to get feedback on what they should prioritize as referees.”
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta congratulates match officials after West Ham’s late equalizer was ruled out due to chalk.
“Overwhelmingly, there were three priorities: People attending the game want a high threshold for handball, and they want an equally high threshold for VAR intervention and physical contact.
“It’s not surprising. The physical strength of the Premier League is one of the things that makes it the envy of the world.” So when you’re told that two of referees’ three priorities should be allowing a sufficient amount of physical contact and light touches via VAR, it’s understandable how we’ve reached a situation where many of the shirt-pullings and physical blocks seen match-by-game in the Premier League go unpunished. ”
However, PGMO Director Howard Webb said in August that there would be careful enforcement of box retention.
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West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo believes referees do not understand what is and what is not a foul after the decision to disallow a second-half equaliser.
“The feedback we’ve gotten is that there are far too many instances where players are clearly pulling people back, affecting their ability to get to the ball, or where clearly extreme behavior is going unpunished,” Webb said.
“They’re guys we expect to catch. So this time next year, we should be seeing a little more penalties against keeping offenses than we saw this year. But it’s not like the pendulum has swung much.”
Until last month, seven penalties were given for holding or grappling in the box.
The guidance for referees is that they should only award a penalty if the holding or grappling is “clear, shocking and sustained” and that if any of these factors are not proven, referees should not award a penalty.
Additionally, decisions regarding grappling in the penalty area are considered to be subjective decisions, so the guidance for VAR is to only intervene if a “clear and unambiguous” threshold is reached.
Reducing the amount of grappling will therefore require increased in-game VAR intervention and/or a caveat to the principle that football is a contact sport.
Is English football ready for that? The debate will become even more heated.
