Hull City midfielder Jean Michael Seri believes Bristol City may have been awarded a penalty with the scores level if VAR was in use in the Championship.
The Robins' 2-1 defeat on Saturday at the MKM Stadium boiled down to controversial penalty decisions by referee Dean Whitestone in the second half which proved to be the turning point in the contest.
The first saw Hull win a penalty when Benjamin Tetteh fell to the turf under the challenge of Kal Naismith in the 72nd minute. While images may show the City defender made minimal contact, it was the obvious delay of the player hitting the ground that made the decision so questionable.
Moments after Ozan Tufan equalised from the spot, Rob Atkinson believed he should have had a penalty when he was bundled down in the area from a City corner.
Replays clearly showed the Hull player had his arms around the towering central defender, albeit not for the first time in the match, and the decision to wave away the protests incensed the Robins bench with Nigel Pearson, Curtis Fleming and Timm Klose all on their feet in the technical area.
Seri, who scored the winner with a wicked deflection in injury time, said on initial viewing it didn't appear like a penalty although suggests VAR could have overturned the decision.
"I don't think it was a penalty. If there was VAR then maybe but to be honest I didn't see strong contact where the referee can give the penalty," he said. "Let's see, maybe we can see in the video if there was contact but I don't think it was a penalty."
While video assistant referees have been used in the Premier League since 2019/20, the cost of utilising the technology in the Championship has been deemed too expensive although the EFL has been looking at implementing a "VAR light" option.
It would mean a cheaper option that wouldn't feature offside technology used and there would be fewer camera angles on show. The proposal would need backing from clubs and FIFA before being introduced.
Hull manager Shota Arveladze focused his attention on the decision to award his side a penalty and believes it wouldn't have made sense for the player to go down if he didn't feel the contact from Naismith was adequate enough.
The manager said: "I believe Benjamin [Tetteh] had the time to really make a goal so I should not think why would he go down, they didn't break his leg but probably they touched him enough to get this penalty. It was a yard away, one-and-a-half yards away from the goal.
"I don't want to say it's 100%, but it's a penalty which was almost a goal so he would not go down, that's what I want to believe."
Pearson was rightly aggrieved at the full-time whistle with the decisions that played a major factor in Hull's victory. He says the referee got both wrong but was reluctant to criticise Whitestone to risk picking up a fine like he did following comments made to Andy Davies after the defeat to QPR last season.
“Probably best for me to not say too much. I also made sure I had a look at the one after that where Rob Atkinson gets pulled to the ground. It’s not pleasant viewing let’s put it like that.
"I know people are going to say ‘you conceded another late goal’ but the pivotal moment there was the penalty and we’re just very unlucky with their winner a deflection like that doesn’t give you a chance. It’s not necessarily poor defending although we could’ve locked the edge of the box out more. It’s an unfortunate deflection but I’m afraid the penalty is not good to view.
"We know there’s going to be a little bit more contacts allowed but the lad who’s marking him is the wrong side of him, has his hands round his waist and has no intention of attacking the ball.”
EFL pundit and former Norwich striker Dean Ashton was in agreement with Pearson in relation to Hull's penalty.
Speaking on the EFL show, he said: "He looked desperate not to take a fine if I'm honest and I'm kind of not surprised.
"Tetteh, I think he does get kicked to start with there is some contact, there is allowed to be contact without it being a penalty, so I think there is contact there and clearly he should have taken a step and then taken the shot.
"I think he's justified in what he says, Pearson, because that was a key moment in the game to equalise for Hull."
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