Following the decision to overturn Tottenham’s penalty against West Ham, Antonio Conte has launched a complaint against the use of VAR and demanded that it be discontinued.
West Ham appeared to have conceded a penalty for the third consecutive home league encounter when Spurs were granted a spot-kick in the 11th minute, only for referee Peter Bankes to overrule his original judgement after a lengthy four-minute VAR wait.
The official used the pitch side monitor on the advice of VAR Stuart Attwell and reversed his decision.
Thilo Kehrer’s own goal gave Spurs the lead later on, but Tomas Soucek equalized for the home team 10 minutes into the second half.
The midfielder smashed past Hugo Lloris following a clever Michail Antonio flick.
The reversed VAR judgment, according to West Ham manager David Moyes, was “the turning point in the game,” and Conte was visibly frustrated by the referees’ decision.
What Did Conte Say?
“I said to him [the referee] at the end of the first half, but with a smile and not in a problematic way, you have taken the right decision and then VAR called you.
“They have for sure embarrassed the referee because to make him change a right decision, I think it was really, really strange.
“But for managers and for players, I think to accept the mistake of the referee during the game is okay because a referee’s decision sometimes can be positive, sometimes can be negative.
“At the end of the season there is always a balance with a positive or negative situation for your team.
“Don’t forget that against Nottingham Forest and a clear situation of goal that the player and went with his hand and a clear penalty situation, red card no and today was clear because I know the rule.
What Did He Say About VAR In The EPL?
“The problem is that it’s difficult to accept the decision when there are people behind the monitor with the video that they have a lot of time because they have taken a lot of time.
🗣 “To make a mistake behind the monitor, this is incredible.” 😡
Antonio Conte says it was “difficult to accept” the VAR decision that went against Tottenham pic.twitter.com/gfsMeWV9yy
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 1, 2022
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“I also listened to the whistles from the crowd because the crowd in England doesn’t like VAR and this is very, very clear, but I think they are right because if these are the decisions, it’s incredible or they don’t know the rules.
“But this is not the first time because I have seen many times a VAR situation onside, then the same situation offside in another game, but because there is one finger or the line is curved instead to say right.
“But I think that in England it is better to cut off VAR for the crowd also for us because for me, for my players, for every coach, for every player of all the clubs I think you accept the referee’s decision, positive or negative, because this is a human mistake.
“With the monitor it can be a human mistake. I’m really disappointed because under these people who stay behind the monitor they have to pay more attention. They have to study also. I don’t know. In England I’ve also spoken with other managers and no one is happy about this situation.”
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