Chelsea’s final chance of European football felt like it went up in smoke when their last minute winner against Aston Villa at the weekend was ruled out by VAR, so it’s no wonder it was the centre of attention on Sky Sports’ ref watch.
They debated whether it was a foul on Diego Carlos, or whether the VAR should have let the ref’s on field decision stand. They noted that the Brazilian didn’t even appeal for the foul from Benoit Badiashile.
But as always, it’s the second point that’s more important. Forget the unsolvable debate about whether the shove constituted a foul. The point is that the ref didn’t think so in the moment, and the moment VAR starts intervening there, you are indeed “re-refereeing” the game. Which ruins the entertainment, which is the whole point of playing.
The fact that the ref was sent “for the right reason,” as Steven Warnock puts it, is irrelevant.
You can see the debate in the clip embedded here:
