New Delhi: Technology has dominated modern Football with fans often at opposite ends when discussing about gift and bane that this has been. In the ongoing FA Cup, the absence of technology may have provided a fresh perspective to everyone who follows the game. In December, the FA Cup declared that the VAR would be available from the fifth round of the competition. Carabao Cup didn’t use the VAR until the semi-final this season.
Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton and Hove Albion welcomed the fact that it wasn’t part of the FA Cup. Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey had made a handball during the build-up for the winner which would have been disallowed. Hurzeler argued that VAR had taken away the “emotional” aspect of football and felt the game had a great atmosphere.
Enzo Maresca was left furious at the referee and VAR last night 😡 pic.twitter.com/lAYU6MVh9C
— The Sun – Chelsea (@SunChelsea) January 15, 2025
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca didn’t see it that way of course that the decisions in the competition were being affected without the presence of VAR, pointing out that the handball should have disallowed the goal. However, Maresca conceded that even with VAR, sometimes the decisions don’t go in favour. Even the Manchester United boss noted that against Leicester City, Harry Maguire’s goal was offside.
The primary reason for VAR missing is down to the issue that there is a want for “consistent refereeing” from the FA and will only be introduced in the fifth round of the competition. Due to the cost of installing and running VAR, earlier it was only used in the Premier League and Championship grounds. Wembley Stadium is equipped with VAR which is why FA Cup finals featured the technology.
According to the top management of the Premier League VAR mistakes have been 13 so far in the league, down from 20 at the same point last year. The goalline technology has been the most baffling one as only the grounds where Championship and Premier League teams play have it and is in use at this stage of the competition.
In England, Hawk-eye produces the technology and uses seven cameras for goal detection. Once the ball crosses, the referee gets the signal on his watch and the goal is declared. In fact, this was the reason that Newcastle’s game against Birmingham City saw Joe Willock’s equalizer cross the line and the linesman was persistent in giving it a goal.
Controversial decisions that may have looked different
Birmingham City vs Newcastle United
Goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell of Birmingham City was standing behind the line when the goal was ruled. However, the shot-stopper argued that he had managed to keep Joe Willock’s close-range shot outside. The linesman ruled in favour of Newcastle and Birmingham soon conceded a third goal to crash out of the competition.
Leyton Orient vs Manchester City
Leyton can walk out of the competition knowing that they had managed to keep England’s best team behind for 40 minutes of the game. Jamie Donley scored with Ortega making a mistake which saw it come as an own goal. However, City were convinced that Sonny Perkins had fouled Nico Gonzalez during the build-up.
Manchester United vs Leicester City
In the stoppage time, Harry Maguire scored to take the defending champions to the next round. Maguire headed a free-kick from Bruno Fernandes in the 3rd minute of the stoppage time, though replays showed that Maguire would have been given an offside which the on-field referees failed to rule.
Brighton vs Chelsea
The latest example of the VA controversy happened in Chelsea’s loss to Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Tariq Lamptey’s shot got blocked and ricocheted back to his arms. Chelsea failed to clear and ultimately Georginio Rutter made a well-judged pass to Kaoru Mitoma and managed to go ahead of Chelsea.
FA made the controversial decision to implement VAR from the fifth round of the cup has ended with many games end in setback or not being delivered with the correct results of the game. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
