Premier League referees’ chief Howard Webb has backed the video assistant referee’s decision not to intervene after Sven Botman’s challenge on Nicolas Jackson — even while describing it as a “high-end reckless challenge”.
Sven Botman and Nicolas Jackson (Credits: BBC Sport)
Botman was shown a yellow card — the correct sanction for a reckless tackle — by referee Jarred Gillett for the Newcastle centre-back’s 18th-minute challenge on Villa striker Jackson on Saturday. The Dutch defender went in strongly and over the top of the ball, though contact on the opponent came with his trailing leg.
Jackson himself was furious after the game. “I know the referee said yellow card but it was so high and hopefully maybe next time a red card, but it was a yellow,” he said. “I nearly broke my leg, but anyway, it’s part of football.”
Why VAR stayed out of it
Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, Webb explained the reasoning of VAR Stuart Attwell, who supported the on-field call of a caution because there was “no secondary scissor action” and contact was “not with the studs”.
“The referee in the moment, on the ground, sees it as a reckless challenge — no doubt a high-end reckless challenge — as Botman comes in and gets a touch on the ball,” Webb said. “The VAR looks at that decision and tries to identify whether that was clearly wrong.”
Webb stressed the philosophy of the lighter-touch approach this season: “We don’t want the referee’s decision to be re-refereed by the VAR. We want the referee to have ownership of the decision and the VAR to only step in when there’s an element that’s clearly wrong.”
Red would have stood too
Webb added that the on-field decision would have remained whatever Gillett had shown: “Equally, if that had been a red card, for sure it would’ve been check complete by the VAR as well.” In other words, this was a genuinely subjective call — one that stayed with the referee either way.
“Robust tackling” is “part of the English game,” Webb said, but referees still have “a responsibility to ensure players’ safety.” The numbers show the lighter touch in action: after seven rounds there have been 21 VAR interventions, nine of them subjective — compared to just three (zero subjective) at the same point last season.
Villa won the game 1-0 through a 36th-minute Johan Manzambi goal — leaving Newcastle to rue both the result and the escaped red card.
Also Read: Johan Manzambi Strikes Again: Villa’s £50m Record Signing Shows Newcastle What They Missed
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.