Chelsea fans want head of VAR sacked after missing blatant Tomas Soucek handball

02/11/2023

Chelsea fans have called for the head of VAR to be "sacked" after failing to award a penalty against West Ham.

The away side pushed for a late winner at the London Stadium as Conor Gallagher fired in a shot from the edge of the area with just two minutes of normal time remaining.

Hammers midfielder Tomas Soucek fell to his knees to block the attempt but it appeared to strike his left hand – which he had placed on the ground to support his weight.

READ MORE: Tom Skinner sends West Ham message from Dino's Cafe ahead of Chelsea clash

Referee Craig Pawson did not deem Soucek's block to be a handball. And after a short review, VAR controversially opted to stick with the official's original decision.

And Blues fans were left fuming as they took to social media after the disappointing 1-1 result, with several of them taking aim at VAR's 'Head of Implementation' in the Premier League, Neil Swarbrick.

Do you think Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty? Let us know in the comments section below

One Chelsea supporter on Twitter wrote: "I have NO words. Absolutely disgraceful. We had the 'HEAD of VAR' monitoring that. Get him f*****g sacked."

Another Blues fan tweeted: "How is that not handball? This Neil Swarbrick has to get sacked. You can’t be the head of VAR and not giving that as a penalty. He needs to get sacked."

A third raged: "WHO EVER IS DOING VAR TODAY, THEY NEED TO BE SACKED ON THE SPOT. THAT ONE OF THE WORST DECISIONS I’VE EVER SEEN."

And a fourth added: "VAR took 5 minutes to disallow West Ham's obvious offside goal but checked that handball decision in 5 seconds. Shambolic refereeing."

It came after Soucek was denied his own winner for the Irons, with VAR judging Declan Rice offside in the build up to the finish.

Both teams had to settle for a point each in a game where they had needed to secure a win. Chelsea remained ninth in the table while West Ham are still just two points away from the relegation zone.

READ NEXT:

Three things Graham Potter got right but one crucially wrong as Chelsea held at West Ham
Chelsea captain Thiago Silva gets tricked by mascot but still sees the funny side
Chelsea fans announce 'we're back' as Joao Felix bags from superb Enzo Fernandez assist

Source: Read Full Article