Refs chief under fire for VAR chaos

REFEREES chief Mike Riley is under pressure to increase the use of VAR after being called in front of the Premier League to discuss the early-season controversies. Sportsmail can reveal that the Premier League asked to see the PGMOL boss last week to go over issues in the first four rounds of the season. There was particular emphasis on the high-profile incidents for which VAR did not intervene, even though the on-field referee would have had several replays and angles had he consulted the pitchside monitor. Riley is also under pressure from lawmakers IFAB to lower the bar for VAR being used and instruct officials to use pitchside replays more, as their guidelines dictate. At present, there is a feeling that Premier League VAR officials are too reluctant to send the referee to the monitor for fear it will delay the game. However, cases such as Youri Tielemans’ studs-up challenge on Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson would surely have resulted in a red card for the Leicester midfielder had the referee been told to look at a replay. Manchester City’s David Silva also saw penalty appeals waved away and there was no VAR intervention after what appeared a clear trip on him in City’s win at Bournemouth. But Riley (left) told his officials he was pleased with their handling of games and the new technology. Sportsmail understands Riley also offered his backing to Kevin Friend, who was criticised for blowing his whistle and booking Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish for diving a split-second before team-mate Henri Lansbury scored what would have been an equaliser in added time at Crystal Palace. VAR could not review the goal because play was already stopped. Replays, however, suggested Grealish did not dive.