Brentford head coach Keith Andrews has called for referees to play a greater role in officiating matches, arguing that an over-reliance on VAR is preventing officials from being allowed to "make mistakes". His comments follow recent controversies, including a disallowed goal for Reading against Brentford in the Carabao Cup and a VAR error in the Manchester derby.
Refereeing body Pro Ref admitted an "error of judgement" after Erling Haaland's winning goal for Manchester City in the Manchester derby was wrongly allowed to stand, despite teammate Enzo Fernandez being offside and interfering with play. Andrews described the decision to allow the goal as "pretty alarming".
In Brentford's 2-1 Carabao Cup win over League One side Reading, Royals defender Paudie O’Connor had a goal ruled out for a high boot. Reading boss Leam Richardson called it "possibly in the top three [wrong] decisions that I've seen in my career".
Andrews suggested that the presence of VAR in most domestic games has negatively impacted referees' control. He stated, "I think we just need to let them ref the game and be human beings and make decisions." He added that officials were not making decisions in both boxes due to the technology, which he feels is "a real shame".