
Pep: I have never trusted anything with VAR
Pep Guardiola expresses distrust in VAR after title race controversy.

Howard Webb praised the VAR process for overturning West Ham's equaliser against Arsenal, citing a clear foul on goalkeeper David Raya. This decision is considered one of the most significant in VAR history, impacting Arsenal's title race.
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Howard Webb has commended the process that led to West Hamâs equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday being overturned, describing Pabloâs foul on the goalkeeper David Raya as âclear and obviousâ.
In what has been described as the most consequential decision in VAR history, the referee Chris Kavanagh chose to rule out ÂCallum Wilsonâs late goal at the ÂLondon ÂStadium, Âhanding Arsenal an advantage in the title race. While Webb, the chief officer of Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), did not blame the official for missing the initial incident he argued it was inevitable that VAR âwould have to get involvedâ.
Speaking on Match Officials Micâd Up, Webb said PGMO had Âspecifically warned players at the beginning of the season against making the type of foul performed by Pablo on Raya. âIs it a foul on the Âgoalkeeper? ÂCategorically, yes,â he said. âWeâve said all season, Âincluding in Âpre-season briefings with the Âplayers, that if a Âgoalkeeper is impeded by an opponent grabbing or holding their arms and therefore canât do their job, theyâll be Âpenalised. Weâre not just talking about contact with goalkeepers, weâre talking about a specific type of contact when the goalkeeperâs arms or hands are being interfered with, stopping them doing their job.
âWhen you see the best angle on this, youâll see that thatâs what Âhappens from Pablo. And on the video, itâs clear and itâs obvious, and it happens early. Even though itâs not clear and obvious to the Âreferee because heâs got a huge group of Âplayers in a penalty area, and itâs Âdifficult to see, when the VAR sees this, of course, they have to get involved.â
Webb said that officials at Stockley Park, in this case the VAR, Darren England, and assistant VAR, Akil Howson, had been aware of the significance of the moment when making their decision and had been âdiligentâ in their work. The check process lasted more than four minutes in total. âIt takes a bit of time because theyâre going through a process pretty diligently because they really respect the game, and theyâre aware, of course, of the size of this situation, the importance of this situation,â Webb said.
âWe have to take our time to get it right in this really important situation. We did, and youâll see this offence being identified, and rightly, the VAR recommended the referee look at the screen and looked at everything as well, not just that individual situation. They were diligent. They looked at the entire piece and were able to identify the offence that needed penalising.â
Howard Webb commended the VAR process for ruling out West Ham's equaliser, stating that the foul on goalkeeper David Raya was clear and obvious.
The VAR officials, Darren England and Akil Howson, took over four minutes to review the incident, ensuring a diligent process due to the significance of the moment.
Pablo committed a foul by grabbing or holding David Raya's arms, which impeded the goalkeeper's ability to perform his job.

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