Howard Webb backs VAR over Botman challenge on Jackson
BBC Sport
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Sven Botman picked up his second yellow card of the season for the foul on Nicolas Jackson.
By Dale Johnson, Football issues correspondent
Published 7 minutes ago
Premier League referees' chief Howard Webb has supported the video assistant referee (VAR) decision not to upgrade Sven Botman's yellow card to a red, despite the challenge on Nicolas Jackson described as "high-end reckless" by referee Jarred Gillett.
Botman received a yellow card for the 18th-minute foul, which saw Jackson go down with what he suggested could have been a broken leg. The VAR, Stuart Attwell, upheld the on-field call as there was "no secondary scissor action" and contact was "not with the studs."
Jackson commented after the game: "I nearly broke my leg, but anyway, it's part of football."
Webb explained that while the challenge was indeed reckless, the referee's on-field decision would have stood regardless of the card shown.
He continued to praise the VAR's role, stating: "We don't want the referee's decision to be re-refered by the VAR. We want the referee to have ownership of the decision..."
"...if the VAR had seen strong stud contact or a closing of the scissor, I think we'd have probably come out with a different outcome... But he doesn't see that."
This season, there have been 21 VAR interventions, with nine being subjective, a stark contrast to the three subjective interventions at the same point last season. However, mistakes are down relative to the number of interventions.
Villa won the game 1-0 through a Johan Manzambi goal in the 36th minute.