The VAR audio from Fulham’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea has now been released, and the moment those behind the screens at Stockley Park persuaded referee Rob Jones to overturn Josh King’s opener makes for baffling listening. The Cottagers were left feeling, with good reason, that the rug had been pulled from under them at Stamford Bridge.
King, just 18, thought he had announced himself in style after being slipped through by Rodrigo Muniz and coolly finishing past Robert Sanchez for what would have been his first senior goal. But jubilation turned to disbelief when replays showed Muniz had been judged guilty of a “careless challenge” in the buildup - his landing foot, after a neat swivel on the halfway line, came down on Trevoh Chalobah, who hit the deck and, in the eyes of VAR, handed Fulham a garden path to goal.
Michael Salisbury, overseeing VAR for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff, was removed from duty for Liverpool vs Arsenal in the Premier League the following weekend after PGMOL admitted he had erred in telling Jones to overturn the on-field call. The release of the audio only underlines just how far off the mark he was.
VAR Audio For Chelsea vs Fulham Has Been Released
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Initially, while play was still going on, Jones can be heard saying that both players were involved and that he denied any chance of a foul, before then revealing the on-field decision was a goal. But things got messy, as is often the case, when VAR had its say. After watching the replays, Salibsury says (watch the video below):
"He [Rodrigo Muniz] spins, clearly steps on the top of the foot. I think that's a foul which prevents an opportunity to defend, because he steps on the foot, he can't get back up. Chalobah stays down and can't defend, then he [Josh King] goes through.It's an impact foul."
After then recommending Jones to go to the pitchside monitor for an on-field review, the referee himself took it upon himself to brand the incident as a "careless challenge" by the Fulham forward, having admitted he initially thought that it was Chalobah who initiated the contact.
In the immediate aftermath of the decision, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher quipped that, "VAR has had a shocking start to the season." It followed another controversial decision that went the way of the Blues a week prior that saw a little-known rule about players in the wall for free-kicks brought up to deny Eberechi Eze from opening the scoring for Crystal Palace.
Howard Webb Casts Verdict on Fulham's Disallowed Goal
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During the latest episode of 'Match Officials Mic'd Up,' Howard Webb admitted there was a 'misjudgement' in disallowing King's goal, while he dismissed that the decision was controversial by instead saying it was outright wrong, citing the higher threshold of contact this season as the overarching reason.
The former FIFA referee, now the Chief Refereeing Officer for PGMOL, has maintained that VAR's involvement should be minimal, but that they took too much control this time. "It wasn’t controversial, it was wrong. We’ve established some principles in terms of how we officiate in the Premier League and how we use VAR," he said.
"They sit around a high threshold for penalising contact – it aids the flow and rhythm and tempo of the game. We’ve also established a high bar for intervention with VAR.
"In other words, if situations are not clearly wrong and the referee has made a call on the field, that call will stand, or at least should stand. And that’s the message that we give to all of our VARs, particularly when we come to taking away goals that are so obviously such a crucial moment in the game.
"We should only be taking goals away when the evidence is very clear that that’s the only thing we can do and that’s the guidance we give to our officials."