Video assistant referee (or VAR, as it’s more commonly known) has had plenty of teething trouble over the past couple of years.Implementing this brand new technology into football was never going to be straightforward and there’s still plenty of debate among fans over whether it’s good or bad for the sport.As we saw at last summer’s World Cup finals in Russia, the pros probably (just) outweigh the cons - but it’s still a far-from-perfect system and mistakes will continue to happen.Ultimately, VAR still leaves decisions in the hands of human beings.A qualified referee watches the actions unfold with every available camera angle at their disposal and helps the match referee and his assistants when it comes to things like penalties, offsides etc.Premier League clubs have agreed to introduce VAR in time for the 2019-20 season but it’s already being used in the FA Cup.However, VAR reached new levels of madness on Saturday afternoon at Turf Moor, where Burnley’s Matej Vydra was halted from taking a penalty while in the middle of his run-up against Barnsley.
As Vydra stepped up to take his 20th-minute spot-kick, referee Simon Hooper informed the bemused striker that the penalty had been disallowed.Vydra, who was fouled for the penalty, was judged to have been offside before the spot-kick was awarded.Premier League referee Lee Mason, watching the action 235 miles away from VAR HQ in Uxbridge, made the decision and informed the match officials at Turf Moor.Watch the bizarre incident here…
And here’s another video taken by a fan in the stands…
Burnley, baffled by the incident, tweeted at the break: “HALF TIME: Burnley 0 Barnsley 0 VAR 1”.
They then added: “For clarification, we're not being critical of VAR with our half time post.
“It was meant as a light-hearted comment at a correct decision being made.
“We are fully in support of its use.”
Burnley boss Sean Dyche, meanwhile, was quoted by The Sun as saying: “I am a big fan of the system in theory.
“It’s about how it’s delivered and making sure it’s used in the best way to get the right outcomes and then I'm all for it.”
Burnley still managed to book their place in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to a stoppage-time penalty from Chris Wood.