Keown proposes 'hanging' VAR in the Premier League
"Is it time for the Premier League to suspend VAR until the problem is completely resolved? The past mistakes are very clear," Keown said on talkSPORT on February 13. "Forget the offside line. I'm trying to compare that to being wrong in any other job or lifestyle."
According to Keown, defender who played for Arsenal between 1984-1986 and 1993-2004, the Premier League wants to break through and take the lead, but needs to consider the training process and whether there are enough qualified referees.
"At the World Cup, the VAR room has seven people and they do a good job, right? The Premier League has good, top, well-trained referees, but they make mistakes. Maybe not enough referees. good, or they don't have enough time. Take your time and make the right decisions," he added.
The British Professional Arbitration Administration (PGMOL) admitted the VAR team made two mistakes in the 23rd round last weekend. The first is the fact that VAR referee Lee Mason forgot, or did not, draw the offside line in Ivan Toney's goal, helping Brentford draw 1-1 at Arsenal.
At Crystal Palace's 1-1 draw with Brighton, VAR referee John Brooks again marked the offside line with the wrong player. In the situation where Pervis Estupinan scored, VAR drew a line with James Tomkins, but Marc Guehi was Palace's last defensive player.
"Mason keeps making mistakes in the VAR room. How many mistakes are you allowed to make?", Keown asked. "We don't want to criticize the referees because this is completely new technology. So I want the Premier League to look at the systems as a whole. It's not just one person, it's a group of people making mistakes. . Maybe they need to look at the system and have more people involved to make the right decisions."
Meanwhile, former PGMOL director Keith Hackett criticized Mason for repeatedly making mistakes and wanted to fire the referee. "Mason has been suspended for human error this season, and I don't think this is good enough. One of the first things Webb needs to do is fire Mason," Hackett wrote in the Telegraph column. "Mason is at the bottom of the list of the best referees in the tournament. He has enough time to know what it takes to VAR."
Hackett continued to emphasize that PGMOL director Howard Webb needed to take a firm stance to reform VAR in the Premier League. "The referee is a harsh environment. Just like the players, if you don't perform well, you will be sold by the club and leave the club. The same should happen to the people in charge of running the game if they are. inappropriate," he added.
Because of the serious mistakes made by VAR over the weekend, Webb called all the member referees for an emergency meeting this week in Stockley Park, London, and wrote letters to Arsenal and Brighton to apologize. PGMOL also suspended Brooks' duties as VAR referee in the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton on the evening of February 13, and Arsenal met Man City in the 12th round of the Premier League match on February 15. Andre Marriner and David Coote will take on the role of VAR referees in these two matches, respectively. Meanwhile, Mason has not been assigned a task in the 24th round of the Premier League.
