The Whistle: Round 23 refereeing and VAR incidents explained

Each week a-league.com.au will be speaking with FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson to review some of the contentious refereeing and VAR incidents from the weekend’s matches.

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Let’s start in Wellington with the VAR Review that resulted in a penalty being awarded for the Phoenix

In this incident the referee awarded a freekick outside the penalty area for the Phoenix for a holding foul by Nigel Boogaard on David Williams. The VAR checked the incident and determined that the hold occurred inside the Newcastle Jets penalty area and recommended an on-field review. After checking the incident, the referee agreed the foul clearly occurred inside the penalty area and correctly awarded a penalty kick for Wellington Phoenix.

LISTEN: Hear the communication between the referee and VAR during the on-field review in the below video.

Wellington awarded a penalty at home to the Jets on Saturday

Over in Perth there was another penalty awarded after VAR involvement, this time for handball

In this incident, the referee allowed play to continue after a potential handball offence in the Melbourne Victory penalty area. The referee saw the ball hit the arm but was not certain whether the arm was away from the body. The VAR checked the incident and determined that Scott Neville had committed a clear handball offence. The defender’s arm has moved towards the ball and is away from his body. After an on-field review the referee correctly awarded a penalty kick for Melbourne Victory.

READ: Have Victory landed a psychological blow ahead of Finals Series?

VIDEO: Full-time highlights of Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

LISTEN: hear the communication between the referee and VAR during the on-field review in the below video.