Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho fears football is going in the wrong direction after his side had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR in the 3-1 defe
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho fears football is going in the wrong direction after his side had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR in the 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United.
Sheffield went ahead in the first half, and Tottenham thought they had equalized immediately, but Harry Kane’s strike was disallowed for a handball in the build-up
Lucas Moura’s arm appeared to brush the ball as he fell under a challenge.
“The referee is in the office,” said Mourinho.
“I never complain at the guy with the whistle because it’s not the referee any more.
“I think the referee should always be the man on the pitch and the people in the office should just support and assist.
“That’s not the way it is. The referee who is not very good on the pitch, we cannot expect that he’s good in the office.
“We’re going in a direction that’s really bad for the beautiful game, the game that everybody fell in love with.”
Tottenham struggled to find their rhythm after that decision as the Blades eased to victory thanks to goals by Sander Berge, Lys Mousset and Oli McBurnie, before Kane grabbed a late consolation.
As frustrating as the decision was for Tottenham, VAR was not in the wrong. It was correctly applying the rules relating to handball as they currently stand.
Ifab, the body that determines the laws of the game, states: “Accidental handball by an attacking player should only be penalised if it ‘immediately’ results in a goal or an obvious opportunity for the player and/or their team to score a goal (i.e. following the handball, the ball travels only a short distance and/or there are very few passes).”
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