Ex-EPL referee, Walton reveals why VAR did not punish Martinez for foul on Lacazette

 

Former Premier League referee, Peter Walton, has said the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not punish Emi Martinez after he appeared to haul down his former Arsenal teammate Alexandre Lacazette, because it is not VAR’s job to interfere in “subjective” incidents.

The Gunners suffered a second consecutive loss in the league on Saturday, following a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

Mikel Arteta was furious at full time over the performance of the match officials, who he confronted at the final whistle.

Arteta was especially annoyed by Chris Kavanagh’s decision not to send off Ezri Konsa in the first-half, after he felled Bukayo Saka with the Arsenal winger preparing to break through on goal.

Arsenal was also denied a spot kick in the second half, when Martinez grabbed Lacazette’s shirt while the two were preparing to contest a corner.

But Walton disagreed, saying: “First of all VAR did have a look at it, they have a silent check on every incident.

“You could argue the goalkeeper was fouled, you could argue the goalkeeper was fouled by Lacazette. The point is VAR is not there to get the correct decision, it is there to identify clear and obvious errors from the referee, or if the referee has missed something.”