Howe: Referees Rely Too Much on VAR After Errors in Newcastle’s FA Cup Win
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has criticised the increasing reliance on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, following a series of contentious decisions during his side’s 3-1 FA Cup victory over Aston Villa on Saturday.
The match, played at Villa Park, saw Chris Kavanagh, the referee, make several decisions that Howe described as “errors,” including allowing a clearly offside goal from Tammy Abraham to stand, failing to issue a red card to Lucas Digne for a dangerous tackle on Jacob Murphy, and incorrectly ruling a handball by Digne outside the penalty area when it occurred at least three yards inside.
VAR is not in use until the fifth round of the FA Cup, and Howe believes the absence of the technology highlighted a concerning trend in refereeing standards. “I believe there’s an argument to say that, because when VAR is there, there’s always a, ‘Well, I won’t give that, but let’s check it’,” Howe said, according to reports. “And I think then your decision-making maybe isn’t as sharp as it may normally have to be so maybe there’s a difference there.”
Despite acknowledging his conflicted feelings about VAR, Howe admitted the technology often delivers accurate results. “I’m always torn on VAR. I still love the emotion, even tonight, when a goal is given and you don’t see a flag or a referee, it’s a goal, and no-one’s going to grab it away from you,” he stated. “That joy that you get in that moment, I still really love and VAR takes it away. But then on the other side, I was wishing there was VAR on the first goal against us, and probably throughout that game.”
Newcastle secured the win despite the controversial officiating, with Sandro Tonali scoring from the resulting free-kick awarded after the incorrect handball decision, and later adding a second goal. Nick Woltemade completed the scoring for the Magpies. The only major decision Kavanagh made correctly was to send off Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot for a reckless challenge on Murphy.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery also weighed in on the debate, stating that VAR is “necessary to assist the referees.” Emery had previously criticised VAR after a goal was disallowed in a Premier League match against Brentford earlier this month, calling the intervention “unfair.” He added, “Today, VAR makes sense.”
Howe emphasised that he did not believe the officials were deliberately making incorrect decisions, but rather that their judgment was affected by the absence of VAR. “The officials don’t make any [wrong] decision on purpose. It’s what they think at the time. But with without VAR, I thought there was a lot of errors.”
Sky Sports News has contacted the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) for comment on Howe’s criticism, but has yet to receive a response.