2nd April 2026
April 2 – Chelsea Women’s head coach Sonia Bompastor lamented VAR following the club’s 3-2 aggregate defeat to Arsenal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final after it failed to give Katie McCabe a red card following a blatant hair pull.
McCabe reached out and grabbed Alyssa Thompson by the hair in the closing minutes of the second leg as Thompson was driving forward. Chelsea were chasing the game, and one of the defining moments of a pulsating tie came down to a fistful of hair and a VAR system that somehow decided it wasn’t worth a second look.
Chelsea had pulled it back to 3-2 on aggregate deep in stoppage time. Thompson was breaking clear when McCabe made contact. What followed was a reminder that for all the progress the women’s game has made, the officiating infrastructure still has a long way to go.
Blues coach Sonia Bompastor had seen enough. She came to the post-game press conference prepared and delivered one of the more remarkable post-match interviews you will see this season.
“For me, it is clearly a red card for the Arsenal player. She’s pulling Alyssa Thompson’s hair,” Bompastor said. “If the VAR is not able to check that situation, I don’t know why we have the VAR. I’m the one getting a red card when I think the Arsenal player should be the one getting a red card.”
Bompastor was shown yellow for protesting, then red for continuing. She refused to leave the touchline. Whatever you think of the theatrics, the underlying argument is sound. McCabe escapes, Bompastor is dismissed, and Arsenal see it out.
McCabe, to her credit, addressed it quickly. “I just want to clarify that I was genuinely reaching for the shirt,” she posted on Instagram. “I wouldn’t ever want to pull someone’s hair. Full respect to Thompson.”
Arsenal manager Renee Slegers said the typical response when it’s one of your own players involved, saying, “I didn’t see the incident on the pitch when it was happening, but I did see Katie going to Alyssa to apologise. My assumption is it’s not intentional, but it is, of course, unlucky.”
Whether McCabe meant to grab hair or shirt, the action disrupted a player in a promising position at a critical moment of the tie. That is what VAR exists to catch.
Former England captain Steph Houghton put it plainly. “It doesn’t look great, does it? Chelsea had just scored, and Thompson was driving with the ball. It is really, really cynical.”
Bompastor said Thompson was “crying and emotional” after the final whistle. “She’s trying her best on the pitch in both games, and it is not good enough — when you are playing football, and someone pulls your hair, it’s bad,” she said.
The women’s game is growing. The stadiums are fuller, the coverage is broader, and the quality is higher than it has ever been. What it still needs is officiating that keeps pace with all of that.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at [moc.l1775117765labto1775117765ofdlr1775117765owedi1775117765sni@r1775117765etsbe1775117765w.kci1775117765n1775117765](javascript:;)