Webb backs VAR decision not to send off Botman for Jackson challenge

Premier League referees’ chief Howard Webb has defended VAR’s decision not to upgrade Sven Botman’s yellow card for a challenge on Aston Villa striker Nicolas Jackson, describing the tackle as “high-end reckless” but saying it did not meet the threshold for intervention.

Newcastle defender Botman was booked by referee Jarred Gillett for the 18th-minute challenge in Saturday’s match. Villa went on to win 1-0, with Johan Manzambi scoring in the 36th minute. [1]

Webb said VAR official Stuart Attwell backed the on-field decision because Botman made no secondary scissor movement and did not make contact with his studs. He said the review would have led to a different outcome if there had been strong stud contact with Jackson’s ankle or shin, or if the legs had closed in a scissor action.

“The VAR looks at that decision and tries to identify whether that was clearly wrong,” Webb said on Match Officials Mic’d Up. He added that a red card shown by Gillett would also have been allowed to stand after a check.

Jackson said after the match: “I nearly broke my leg, but anyway, it’s part of football.”

Webb called the incident a “good example” of a lighter-touch approach, in which VAR steps in only when an on-field decision is clearly wrong.

After seven rounds of Premier League matches, there had been 21 VAR interventions this season, nine involving subjective decisions. At the same stage last season, there had been three interventions, none subjective. The Premier League Key Match Incidents Panel has judged one intervention this season to be wrong and identified one missed intervention; after seven rounds last season, it had identified four errors involving missed interventions. [1]