Each week a-league.com.au will be speaking with FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson to review some of the contentious VAR incidents from the weekend’s matches.
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Ben, let’s start in Melbourne with the non-handball decision involving Scott Galloway.
The referee clearly saw this incident. In his opinion, the ball accidentally struck the arm of Galloway after rebounding off his foot and his knee as he attempted to control the ball. The position of Galloway’ arm was natural for this action. In situations when a player plays the ball which strikes his own hand deemed to be in a natural position, play should be allowed to continue.
The VAR checked the incident and agreed with the referee’s judgement and correctly did not intervene.
In Perth, Curtis Good was sent off for receiving a second caution for a reckless tackle. Can the VAR intervene in these situations?
The VAR is only able to intervene in clear and obvious errors for direct red cards (either given or not given). The VAR is unable to intervene in the awarding of yellow cards, even second yellow cards, unless it is a case of mistaken identity.
And finally, the challenge on Adam Le Fondre in the Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix.
In this incident the referee allowed play to continue after minor contact from Andrew Durante on Adam Le Fondre in the Wellington Phoenix penalty area. When checking the incident, the VAR identified that Rhyan Grant was offside in the attacking phase leading up to the incident. If the contact was deemed to be a clear and obvious penalty, play would have been restarted with an indirect free kick for the offside offence. I was comfortable with the decision of the referee and the VAR in this instance.
