IT’S ‘TOO FORENSIC’ SAY GAME LAW CHIEFS

‘ARMPIT’ offsides should not be given after football’s law makers said VAR should only be used to overturn “clear and obvious” mistakes.

Five goals were disallowed for marginal offside calls during the weekend’s Premier League games, leading to a barrage of criticism from managers, players and pundits.

Wolves, Crystal Palace, Norwich, Brighton and Sheffield United were all denied goals after replays had been studied by the team at Stockley Park.

But the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which makes the game’s laws, claims VAR should only overturn blatant errors rather than forensically examine replays looking for potential offsides.

IFAB’S general secretary Lukas Brud (above) said: “Clear and obvious still remains. It’s an important principle. There should not be a lot of time spent to find something marginal.

“If something is not clear on the first sight, then it’s not obvious and it shouldn’t be considered.

“Looking at one camera angle is one thing, but looking at 15, trying to find something that was potentially not even there, this was not the idea of the VAR principle.”

Former West Ham striker Tony Cottee wants former players to be involved in VAR decisions to help officials. Cottee said: “I’m very pro VAR and it can be a great innovation for our game, but we are frustrated by how it has gone so far.

“You can’t just have refs looking at it, you need an ex-footballer sitting in to say, ‘He’s dived, he’s conned the ref’. We want to help.”

Former referee Dermot Gallagher said: “They’ve said it will take a few years to get it right. There may be a few bumps in the road – and this may be one of the biggest.”