Richard Keys urges PGMOL to make change as West Ham prayers answered after VAR controversy
Richard Keys says that West Ham United were well within their rights to request the VAR audio from their defeat to Arsenal.
The stakes were high at the London Stadium on Sunday, as Arsenal moved one step closer to the Premier League title with a 1-0 win over the Hammers.
Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game, but it could have been very different had Callum Wilson’s last-gasp goal not been ruled out.
Pablo was judged to have fouled David Raya just seconds before Wilson fired the ball into the back of the net.
West Ham were fuming at the decision, and Keys used that as one of the examples to take aim at the standard of officiating in the Premier League.
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Richard Keys reiterates what we have all been saying
VAR has killed the excitement of Premier League football, with goal checks often taking upwards of five minutes, despite the intervention being meant for clear and obvious errors.
It was a similar length of delay that saw West Ham’s goal ruled out against Arsenal, with fans inside the stadium completely oblivious to what was actually going on.
And in fairness, it was a similar feeling for those watching at home.
As a result, Keys has again called for VAR audio to be played live, to ensure that everyone is made aware of the decisions and reasoning behind them
Via X, he said: “We’re soon not going to need on-field refs. What’s the point? They don’t make big decisions.
“And West Ham are right to ask for VAR audio from Sunday. We should all hear that all the time.”
VAR audio set to be released from West Ham vs Arsenal
West Ham requested that the VAR audio that coincided with their disallowed goal against Arsenal be released, and that is due to happen
Howard Webb and Michael Owen will be dissecting the incident live on Sky Sports at 7pm on Tuesday night, with the audio released.
It will do nothing to aid the Hammers’ fight against relegation, but it will at least provide some clarity as to why so many things went unnoticed in that passage of play.