Referees' chief Howard Webb has said there was nothing "clearly wrong" with the decision not to send off Newcastle defender Sven Botman for his tackle on Aston Villa striker Nicolas Jackson, in Newcastle's 1-0 defeat to Villa on Saturday.
Referee Jarred Gillett showed Botman only a yellow card for the challenge, and VAR Stuart Attwell backed the on-field decision after a review, a call that was widely criticised by Sky Sports pundits.
Jamie Redknapp said: "If VAR can't see that's a red, we're in trouble. It is so dangerous. How he's not broken his leg there... I like to see aggression. I want to see 50/50 tackles, but you can't do that anymore."
Jackson told Sky Sports after the game: "The referee said it was a yellow card but it was so high. Hopefully next time it is a red card. I nearly broke my leg, but it's fine. It's part of football."
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said on Ref Watch: "I think it's a red card. It's got everything for a red card tackle - it's got speed, intensity, he scissors him." Sky Sports' Jay Bothroyd said Botman's challenge amounted to more violent conduct than Yehor Yarmoliuk's headbutt at Brentford, adding that Jackson could have broken his leg.
Webb, however, believes the incident reflects this season's approach of VAR not re-refereeing on-field decisions. Speaking on Match Officials Mic'd Up, he said: "We've seen quite a lot of robust tackling in the Premier League. This weekend we saw quite a few examples of strong tackles going in; it's part of the English game, the Premier League and what people like. We want to embrace that but we also have a responsibility to ensure players' safety."
He added: "Many of those situations that we've seen with those types of tackles are subjective - the referee's having to make a determination in the moment on how much force is used and the nature of the tackle. We've really tried to encourage referees this season to make decisive on-field decisions, and in this situation we see the referee make a judgement on Joelinton's tackle by playing advantage and then Botman comes in."
Webb continued: "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. There's obviously some speed he comes in with. The VAR looks at that decision and tries to identify whether that was clearly wrong."
"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," Webb said. "So if the VAR had seen strong stud contact from Botman's extended leg into the ankle or shin of Jackson, or there had been a closing of the scissor, I think we'd have probably come out with a different outcome after the VAR had looked at it. But he doesn't see that. He realises it's subjective, and he allows it to stay on the field with the referee's call standing."
Webb added: "Equally, if that had been a red card, for sure it would've been check complete by the VAR as well. So, it's a good example really of how the referee's call is working in the Premier League this season. A lighter-touch approach: let the referees referee the decision and the VAR step in when there's something clearly really wrong."
What the VAR said in real time
Audio from the review showed Attwell telling his assistant: "I don't like that. Right, so he hits the ball; he goes over the top of the ball. He doesn't go studs into the leg, but he goes round it with a scissor challenge." After watching multiple replays, Attwell asked assistant VAR Craig Taylor for his view. Taylor replied: "I think he plays the ball and there's limited contact with the player's leg." Attwell responded: "It's not with the studs, is it? It goes round him," to which Taylor said: "It's not with the studs. It's not a clear point of contact." Attwell concluded there was "no secondary scissor action" before confirming yellow cards for both Botman and Joelinton for what he called "two reckless tackles."
Rogers and Palmer tackles not addressed
Webb did not address two other incidents from the same weekend in Tuesday's edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up. Morgan Rogers escaped a red card during Chelsea's 2-0 win at Everton, while his team-mate Cole Palmer avoided a second yellow card for a late challenge. Former Premier League referee Mike Dean said on Soccer Saturday that Rogers deserved at least a yellow card, which would have seen him sent off after an earlier booking. On Ref Watch, Bothroyd and Tim Sherwood both said Rogers' challenge should have been a straight red card.
Bentancur red card 'the right outcome'
Webb also said Rodrigo Bentancur's red card and Luke Shaw's yellow card, shown after the pair clashed in Tottenham's 1-1 draw at Manchester United, were "absolutely the right outcome." Bentancur was sent off for headbutting Shaw in retaliation for being pushed over by the United left-back at Old Trafford in October.
Webb explained: "When players make contact with their head, they're running a really high risk. It's seen as a violent act. When we apply the laws of the game, we differentiate between the neck, face and head compared to contacts into the chest. For us not to send off for contact into the face or head, it has to be deemed negligible and in this case it's not."
He added: "It's a fairly forceful act by Bentancur. You could argue the push by Shaw is also forceful but it's in the chest. You don't often see players sent off for pushes to the chest. A yellow card for Luke Shaw, but it has to be a red card for Bentancur reacting in the way he does with his head."
