Each week a-league.com.au will be speaking with FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson to review some of the contentious refereeing and VAR incidents from the weekend’s matches.
In the Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory match Corey Brown was penalised for handball, can you talk us through this decision?
In the 60th minute a pass into the penalty area from Neil Kilkenny was blocked by the arm of Corey Brown. The player’s arm was initially by his side but as the ball was played, he moved his arm away from his body, making himself bigger, stopping the ball with his arm. Even though the ball was played from a short distance the referee deemed this to be a deliberate action and so he awarded a penalty kick
I think that the defending team would believe that a penalty is an unfair decision in this situation due to the short distance. Likewise, the attacking team would feel that not awarding a penalty was unfair due to the position of the arm away from the body. The refereeing coaching panel agrees with the referee’s interpretation and his decision to award a penalty in this instance.
The VAR checked the incident and determined that the on field decision was not clearly and obviously wrong and so the on-field decision was upheld.
