Fans slam VAR ‘corruption’ as Tottenham’s Vicario escapes ‘BLATANT red card’ for deliberate handball outside the box
FANS were left raging at VAR “corruption” after Guglielmo Vicario escaped a red card for a “deliberate handball” outside the box.
The incident occurred in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Brentford on Saturday.
Spurs were 2-1 up at home when the chaos erupted.
Vicario attempted to gather a long ball on the edge of his area.
But the Italian’s handling was the definition of “butter fingers.”
And the ball went lose as Vicario’s body weight took him over the line of the box.
A mad scramble then ensued as Vicario attempted to swat the ball away from an incoming Brentford player.
He made contact as he cleared the ball to safety.
But Vicario was clearly over his line when touching it, technically making his action a handball.
However, the goalie was not penalised by referee John Brooks.
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Fans then waited for VAR to take action.
Yet they did not intervene after judging it as an incident NOT denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
And it was also deemed NOT a red card incident, therefore upholding the original decision of the ref.
Fans were left fuming at the ref’s decision not to penalise, while also questioning why VAR couldn’t get involved.
One said: “How has neither the ref or VAR seen this blatant handball by Vicario?
“More awful officiating in the Premier League.”
Vicario incident is a 'concern' and was 'incorrectly dealt with', says Mark Halsey
THE incident where keeper Guglielmo Vicario handled outside his penalty area was incorrectly dealt with by the match officials.
But I do not believe that the Tottenham man, who was not punished, should have been sent off.
In a situation like this you have to consider whether it meets the criteria of denying a goal, or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Referees must consider the distance between the offence and the goal, the general direction of play, the likelihood of an opponent keeping or gaining control of the ball and the location and number of defenders.
This did not meet those criteria.
It was handball, however, so it should have been a free-kick and a caution.
VAR did not get involved because it was not a clear and obvious error regarding a red card offence.
But it is a concern that referee John Brooks did not recognise the offence.
Another declared: “Vicario has well and truly lost the plot.”
One noted: “Vicario is a very lucky boy.”
Another boomed: “Vicario is an accident waiting to happen.”
One yelled: “What an absolute shambles by the ref.
“Vicario clearly handball the ball outside of his area, replays could not have been clearer.”
Another added: “How was that not a red card?”