West Ham were robbed, says referee's chief

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 12th September 2019

The General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited has admitted that West Ham should have been awarded a penalty in the ir 2-0 win against Norwich a fortnight ago.

Former referee Mike Riley revealed that VAR had made four major errors since the new technology was introduced to the Premier League at the beginning of the season.

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And one of those was the decision not to award Sebastien Haller a penalty when he was fouled inside the 18-yard box by Tom Trybull during the second half of West Ham's win against the Canaries.

"We are learning as we go along and we are constantly improving," Riley told Sky Sports. "Out of the four match rounds, there have been some really good examples where we have intervened.

"There have been six incidents where VAR has advised the referee and we have got a better decision as a result. There were four incidents where VAR didn't intervene and had they done, we would have a better understanding of the role VAR plays in the game.

"These are examples where VAR could have had a benefit and intervened to help the referee on the day."

In addition to the Haller decision, Riley revealed that VAR should've awarded Manchester City a penalty in their game against Bournemouth.

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Meanwhile Leicester's Youri Tielemans' was lucky not to be sent off for a stamp on Bournemouth's Callum Wilson whilst Fabian Schar's equaliser for Newcastle against Watford was also disputed due to a hand-ball in the build up by Isaac Hayden.

"We are trying not to disrupt the flow of the game but on these occasions, the judgement should have been that it was a clear and obvious error," added Riley.

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