In the wake of a controversial incident during Saturday's Manchester derby, Howard Webb, the boss of Premier League referees, has come forward to back his officials. The incident in question involved Diogo Dalot, who was booked in the 11th minute of Manchester United's 2-0 win over Manchester City for a high challenge on Jeremy Doku.
Dalot, a Portugal international player for Manchester United, closed down on Doku and stretched out a leg to intercept the ball. In doing so, he made contact with his studs on Doku's knee. This action sparked debate among sports fans and sports betting fans alike about whether or not it warranted more than just a yellow card.
The video assistant referee (VAR), Craig Pawson, supported Anthony Taylor's decision to issue only a yellow card for Dalot’s challenge. According to Pawson’s interpretation of the footage from VAR technology - which is used in football matches to assist referees with decision-making - he stated that the contact was "glancing and not with excessive force".
Webb stands by officials' decision
Despite claims that his officials made an error by not sending off Dalot after this incident, Howard Webb has rejected these allegations outrightly. He insists too much emphasis has been placed on slow-motion replays of the event.
Howard Webb, Professional Game Match Officials boss, said:
"The officials on the field saw the actions of Dalot, they saw him stretch forward with his foot, he touches the ball, and then there's contact on Jeremy Doku. They deemed that to be a reckless action and therefore worthy of a yellow card.
"I know other people think it's clearly red. I don't agree - I think there's a mix of considerations. I know that when we look at this, we see that the point of contact is on the knee, but we also have to factor in speed, force and intensity. You'll not see many red cards in the Premier League for serious foul play that don't involve those things. Now, we evaluate those things through a full-speed view of the incident. Without looking at it at full speed, you get kind of a distorted view. You don't get a true picture of how much force and speed there was in the challenge.
"That foot touches the knee, comes off pretty quickly. We can see on slow-mo that it does touch that knee. But at full speed, when you play it in real time, you can see there's not a great deal of speed in the action. Not a lot of intensity. We were heavily criticised a few years ago for using slow motion and freeze frames, because people said this is not reality, it's not how the game is played. When you slow it down it can look a lot worse - and it does. When you freeze frame it, you can make a lot of situations look like red-card offences. So, it's difficult for me to hear people make a judgment on this just by analysing freeze frames and slow motion, coming to the consideration that it's red on that basis."
Webb argues that while slow-motion replays can provide additional insight into incidents during games they can also exaggerate movements and impacts making them appear more severe than they are in real-time play. He believes that considering all factors involved including real-time speed and intensity of play; issuing Dalot with a yellow card was an acceptable outcome.
This incident serves as an important reminder of the complexities involved in officiating football matches. It also highlights how technology like VAR can both aid and complicate these decisions. Regardless of differing opinions among fans and critics alike, it is clear that maintaining fairness and accuracy in sports remains a challenging yet crucial task for all involved parties.
