There have been countless controversies since the introduction of VAR to the Premier League, and Arsenal have both benefitted and been disadvantaged by it.
VAR was introduced to help referees increase the accuracy of their decisions, with it being mooted that ‘clear and obvious’ mistakes would be corrected.
However, poor decisions given by video assistant referees, and the technology being used incorrectly, has raised questions over how much benefit it provides.
Premier League clubs will vote on whether to keep the technology or remove it completely after Wolves made a formal complaint, with the feeling that they have been unfairly treated with it, and that it is not fit for purpose.
Arsenal will be voting on the matter, and whilst Mikel Arteta has landed himself in hot water before when expressing his frustration at some decisions, it seems that the club are willing to keep the technology in their games.
Arsenal will vote in favour of keeping VAR in the Premier League
A report from GIVEMESPORT has now revealed that ‘big six’ clubs including Arsenal are set to vote in favour of keeping and improving VAR, rather than scrapping it.
“Multiple members of the ‘big six’ plan on voting against it.Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all wish to persist with VAR. Opposition is expected to be relayed amicably, with clubs welcoming the vote as a forum to push for critical changes in how VAR operates,” they revealed.
This may come as a surprise to some Arsenal fans, given the previous run-ins they have had with the PGMOL over some refereeing decisions.
Why Arsenal want to keep VAR despite previous controversies
Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle in November saw Anthony Gordon score a controversial winning goal, whilst Bruno Guimaraes was lucky to escape a red card.
Arteta fumed about the decisions after the game, but escaped punishment from the FA after his comments allegedly criticising the referees.
Arsenal released a statement at the time calling for PGMOL to improve their refereeing standards, and they may hope that by sticking with VAR and working on ways to improve it, the end goal of more accurate decisions being consistently given can be reached.
Although some fans feel that VAR has ruined the spontaneous nature of goal celebrations, without adding much benefit as wrong decisions are still being given, it has been of use to Arsenal before.
READ MORE: The 8 worst Arsenal VAR decisions of all time in Premier League games
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a goal against Manchester United in 2019 which was then flagged as offside by the linesman. However, replays showed that he was onside by some distance, and VAR stepped in to award him the goal.
Earlier this season, Alejandro Garnacho thought he had put Man United 2-1 up in the late stages at the Emirates, but VAR revealed that he was marginally offside, with Gabriel Magalhaes timing his defensive run perfectly, and the goal was chalked off.
Arsenal went on to win the game, and Erik ten Hag has lamented the decision on several occasions throughout the season, but the reality is that without VAR, Arsenal would have lost the match through an offside goal, and the club may look at incidents like these as ones which show that VAR’s benefits outweigh the negatives.
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