THE introduction of VAR into football was supposed to prevent contentious disputes, but it’s erratic application by officials is undermining is use.
The latest VAR decision relating to the penalty in the France versus Nigeria match highlights this problem well.
For the penalty which the France player missed and was therefore retaken, the Nigeria goalkeeper was never standing on the line and was never told by the referee to step back onto the line, and so whilst the goalkeeper was technically in the wrong, the referee should have told her to step back before the kick was taken.
In any case though, for the re-taken penalty, which was scored by the France player, the France number six definitely encroached within the area before the ball was kicked.
And so France should have been penalised and the scored penalty itself retaken. This did not happen.
VAR cannot be strictly applied in one case if then ignored in another instance.
Inconsistency only attracts outrage and a sense of injustice.
Can anyone imagine the consequences of something like this happening in a World Cup final?
Ian Thompson, Spennymoor
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