Rob Edwards, manager of Luton Town, refused to blame VAR for the Hatters’ 2-1 defeat at the hands of Burnley on Tuesday night.
Carlton Morris broke into the area and fell down under a sliding push from Clarets defender Jordan Beyer, demanding for a penalty, only to have referee Peter Bankes wave play on.
Beyer appeared to have had enough of the ball at the time, but replays showed that he went past the Luton striker to do so, leaving the Hatters feeling let down that VAR hadn’t at least asked Bankes to go to the video screen and examine his judgment.
When asked for his thoughts later, Edwards stated, “Maybe it was one of those, if it is given, perhaps it is not overturned, but because it is not given, it is not overturned.”
“He’s gone through Carlton to get to the ball, it’s a tight one, I’m not going to blame that.”
VAR has been under increased scrutiny this season, notably after Liverpool were defeated 2-1 by Tottenham at the weekend, a game in which Luis Diaz’s goal was mistakenly ruled out for offside, with the PGMOL releasing audio footage of the event subsequently.
However, prior of the midweek defeat, Edwards voiced his support for the system, saying, “I am for VAR as long as we get the right decision.”
“I think we’ve seen things like offsides, they’re factual decisions, those are ones that need to be right and I know there’s been a big controversy. “The difficulty we have then is it’s still someone else’s opinion with a handball for example. “We’ve had them, probably against Brighton and Wolves, where they’re questionable and then maybe another one against West Ham, which in my opinion was a bit more of a handball that doesn’t get given
“It wasn’t a pleasant wait for us for Everton’s goal (on Saturday), but it was the right decision, so you don’t mind the outcome, but if we’re going to have this technology, it has to work.”
“It’s not going away; we just have to make sure we operate it correctly and get the right decision.”
“I am for it as ultimately it should get the right decision.”
