"When Darren England steps out at Wembley on Saturday flanked by Reece James and Bernardo Silva, he might be relieved to be out on the pitch. The FA Cup final referee was the video assistant referee (VAR) on duty for Arsenal's win at West Ham United in the Premier League last weekend. His intervention led to Callum Wilson's equalising goal for the Hammers being disallowed and had a telling impact on the title race and the relegation battle."
"So much for VAR removing unnecessary controversy from the big decisions. You may like Darren England will referee the FA Cup final (Image credit: Getty Images) England will be in the middle for Saturday's final between Chelsea and Manchester City, with Peter Bankes picking through the details from elsewhere. The idea of a VAR trial was always a fallacy. Its introduction was a fait accompli from day one and the process is still a total nonsense everywhere it's used even as we approach the tenth anniversary of its first match proper in 2016."
"A post shared by Wembley Stadium (@wembleystadium) A photo posted by on Nevertheless, England's first VAR match was designated as a 'trial' and was not in the Premier League, but the FA Cup. Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace shared that dubious honour in January 2018. VAR has been force-fed to Premier League supporters since the start of the 2019-20 season and the FA Cup has been dragged along for the hellacious ride."
"Instead of capitalising on the FA Cup's unique characteristics and complications to turn the absence of VAR into a point of differentiation, the FA jumped in two-footed and ruptured their own cruciate ligament. You'd think they would have known. The FA Cup's deployment of VAR is farcical. For a while, it was us"
Darren England will referee the FA Cup final at Wembley between Chelsea and Manchester City. England previously served as the video assistant referee for Arsenal’s Premier League win at West Ham, where his intervention disallowed Callum Wilson’s equalising goal. The decision influenced both the title race and the relegation battle and has been heavily scrutinised since. The piece argues that VAR was never a genuine trial and that its introduction was predetermined. It notes that early “trial” matches occurred in the FA Cup rather than the Premier League, including Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace in January 2018. It claims VAR has been forced on Premier League supporters since 2019-20 and that the FA Cup has been pulled into the same problems, calling the deployment farcical.
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