Each week a-league.com.au will be speaking with FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson to review some of the contentious refereeing and VAR incidents from the weekend’s matches.
A couple of incidents to dissect this week. Let’s start with the potential offside involving Rostyn Griffiths in Melbourne.
In this incident Rostyn Griffiths scored to give Melbourne City the lead in the match. With a close offside decision, the assistant referee gave the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team and allowed the goal to stand. The VAR checked the incident and determined that the on-field decision was not clearly and obviously wrong, and correctly did not intervene.
LISTEN: Hear the communication between the referee and VAR in the below video.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6024185306001
Across in Adelaide we saw a red card after a VAR review. Talk us through the process of this decision…
In this incident, Adelaide United’s Apostolos Stamatelopoulos fouled the Wellington Phoenix midfielder Mandi and was cautioned by the referee. The VAR checked the incident and determined that the challenge constituted serious foul play because it endangered the safety of the opponent. The referee’s decision to caution the player was a clear and obvious error. After conducting an on-field review the referee changed his decision and Stamatelopoulos was correctly sent off for serious foul play.
A slow motion replay was correctly used to determine the point of contact. Normal speed should have been used to judge the intensity of the offence.
LISTEN: Hear the communication between the referee and VAR during the on-field review in the below video.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6024182604001
Staying in Adelaide, what about the offside decision which disallowed a goal for Wellington Phoenix?
In this incident, Wellington Phoenix had a goal disallowed after the referee consulted with the assistant referee and ruled that Roy Krishna was offside and interfered with an opponent leading up to the goal. Roy Krishna jumps and clearly attempts to play a ball which is close to him. This impacts on the goalkeeper. The VAR checked the incident, confirmed that the on-field decision was correct and did not intervene.
