LONDON — The fate of West Ham United, a Premier League club sitting near the bottom of the table and firmly in the relegation zone, changed in an instant thanks to two video assistant referee (VAR) reviews during a Jan. 6 match against Nottingham Forest.
The pair of reviews doomed the Hammers in a 2-1 loss, much to the dismay of the 62,429 fans in attendance at London Stadium — and to some in the West Ham dressing room.
“For me, it’s a joke,” West Ham midfielder Tomáš Souček told Sky Sports about a check in the 89th minute that awarded Nottingham Forest the game-winning penalty kick. “I came to the Premier League because I thought it was the toughest league in the world … but this looks like it’s more like basketball because you can’t touch the player anymore.”
VAR, introduced in the Premier League during the 2019-20 season, is a technology that allows for extra reviews in “match-changing situations” (goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identities), according to the league’s website.
There is a high bar for intervention on these calls — there must be a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident from the referee to trigger a VAR check. From there, the referee will check the pitchside monitor to review the incident and make a final subjective decision.
The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Capital News Service observed the Premier League’s VAR hub, located at Stockley Park in west London, on Jan. 7.
Inside the room, experts closely monitor every Premier League game with advanced technology that can measure controversial plays down to the millimeter.
But VAR isn’t meant to replace the on-field referees or to strip their decision-making power. Rather, the system is intended to serve as an extra set of eyes, offering additional context and information that can aid the referee in making their ultimate decision.
Even while providing that boost, the system has sparked consistent debate among fans and clubs because of its tendency to shift a match’s outcome.
In the first controversial play in West Ham’s Jan. 6 match, the Hammers seemed to take a 2-0 lead when Crysencio Summerville fired in a shot off a deflection. But a VAR review led to the score being overturned because of an offside call in the play’s build-up.
Nottingham Forest equaled the score just moments later.
“That was the crucial moment of the game, a two-goal lead,” West Ham coach Nuno Espirito Santo told reporters postgame. “All the stadium felt the pain of the goal ruled out.”
In the 89th minute, West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola collided with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White while contesting a ball barreling toward the net. After a VAR check, referee Tony Harrington awarded the visitors the eventual game-winning penalty kick.
“We didn’t know why there was VAR and then the penalty, so it was tough for all of us,” Soucek said.
League Managers Association chief executive Richard Beven said in November on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast that VAR is “here to stay.” Excellent Abunum, a Manchester City fan who has followed the Premier League for years, believes VAR has its ups and downs but said it should remain in place.
In the United States, the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association all have forms of official review. The most notable difference is that all three of those U.S.-based leagues allow for coaches’ challenges, while the Premier League does not.
“VAR is a good thing because sometimes there are some decisions that, if there were no VAR, it would look stupid,” Abunum told CNS. “But sometimes … they just take advantage.”
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