THERE is only one reason the Premier League is not allowing referees to look at on-field monitors.
My understanding from speaking to officials within the game is that PGMOL chief Mike Riley has a bee in his bonnet about the amount of time it takes to review incidents on screens.
So, our elite officials are effectively not making the key decisions any more because VAR officials at Stockley Park are re-refereeing games in a control room.
At Tottenham, vastly experienced referee Michael Oliver played second fiddle to VAR David Coote who only has one full season of Premier League action.
Coote also had the final say on plenty of big calls in Manchester Citys win at Leicester, including two big shouts for handball.
What must Michael be thinking when he is in charge of big decisions but other people are making them?
The VAR official is refereeing at a match now. In fact, you could argue the best refs should be sitting in the control room and not running around on a football pitch as that is where the big calls are made.
On-field referees should instead be checking incidents themselves using monitors.
All other leagues that use VAR do that and it is also the case in the Champions League.
We have seen elsewhere time and again refs sprinting across the field to look at the screen and making a decision quickly.
Also, VAR is a totally different profession to refereeing out on the pitch. They should have a panel of ex-referees that solely do VAR. And I am not against having ex-players on the panel.
It is not just about knowing the laws, it is about knowing the game.
Unfortunately, quite a few refs dont know the game of football.
