Former England and Tottenham striker, Gary Lineker, has voiced his concerns over the use of slow-motion replays in Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decisions. This comes after Moises Caicedo’s controversial red card during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
The high-stakes London derby between title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal proved to be a scrappy affair. With fouls aplenty and clear-cut chances few and far between at Stamford Bridge, the game was anything but smooth sailing.
The Ecuadorian midfielder, Moises Caicedo handed Premier League leaders Arsenal a significant advantage shortly before half-time as he was sent off for a late studs-up challenge on Mikel Merino. Initially shown a yellow card, this was upgraded to red once video assistant referee John Brooks recommended that Anthony Taylor take a closer look at the pitch-side monitor.
Ten-man Chelsea strikes first
Despite being down to ten men just three minutes into the second period, it was Chelsea that made the breakthrough. Trevoh Chalobah flicked a looping header beyond David Raya from Reece James’ corner giving them an unexpected lead.
However, makeshift centre-forward Merino dragged Arsenal back into contention by heading home Bukayo Saka’s pinpoint cross from the right. The match ultimately finished all square preserving Arsenal's five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City in the table while leaving Chelsea six points behind Mikel Arteta’s side in third place.
Caicedo’s red card became the key talking point of the game amongst fans and pundits alike. Once things had settled down post-match, The Rest Is Football podcast discussed their views on this contentious incident which occurred in minute 38 of playtime. Lineker, the former Match of the Day host, said he could ‘understand’ why referee Taylor reached the decision to send Caicedo off after VAR had intervened. However, he argued against the use of slow-motion replays in such decisions.
Lineker's case against slow-motion replays
Lineker made a compelling case for removing slow-motion replays from VAR decision-making processes. He believes that these replays 'distort' what 'actually happens' in real time. This perspective suggests that referees might be influenced by slowed-down footage to make harsher decisions than they would have if they were judging incidents at normal speed.
Gary Linker, Premier League legend, said:
‘I don’t think they should have slow motion for things like that. It’s the same when you see still shots of peoples’ feet. His foot wasn’t raised, it was on the ground, he was a millisecond late for the ball and slow motion makes it look terrible. I understand exactly why they possibly overturned the decision but, I mean, really?!’
‘I don’t even think that would have been a foul in my day, let alone a red card,’
‘I just think slow motion distorts what actually happens because it’s like: hit the ball, dum, dum… the foot bounces on the ground. If he’s got his foot in the air and above the ball, that used to be over the top, red card definitely. But these ones now… I mean it looks terrible in slow motion, I get it, but when you see it, and I watched it lots of times in normal speed, it was actually just a fraction.’
While technology has undeniably brought about improvements in football refereeing accuracy, it is clear that there are still areas where it can be refined and improved. The debate over whether or not to use slow-motion replays during VAR reviews is one such area and will likely continue to be a topic of discussion amongst sports fans and pundits alike.
