You have probably heard by now the controversy surrounding Ivan Toney's equaliser for Brentford against Arsenal.
As reported by the Mail, Lee Mason, who was on VAR duty for the London Derby at the Emirates Stadium 'forgot' to draw the lines when assessing Christian Norgaard's position on the field as it was he who knocked the ball back across the face of the six-yard box for Toney to head home.
However, as the Brentford player was in an offside position, the goal would have been ruled out if the VAR lines had been drawn. This raises the question as to why the lines weren't drawn.
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Interestingly, as per the Premier League's official website explaining offsides, a statement reads: "When an immediate goalscoring opportunity is likely to occur and there is a tight, marginal offside call, the assistant referee should keep their flag down until the passage of play is completed.
"Once the goalscoring opportunity is complete - either a goal is scored or the chance is gone - the assistant will then flag to indicate the initial offence. If a goal is scored the VAR will then review the offside judgement. Where there is a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity and the assistant referee is certain the attacker actively involved is in an offside position, then the assistant should indicate the offence immediately.
"In both of these situations the referee should wait to blow the whistle until the immediate phase of play has ended. Factual offside decisions will be based on the evidence provided by fully calibrated offside lines."
This explanation, particularly the part which states that 'factual offside decisions are based on the evidence provided by fully calibrated offside lines' creates even more confusion as to why no lines were drawn for Toney's equaliser as it seemed like Norgaard was in an offside position.
Meanwhile, with regard to how offsides are determined by VAR, the explanation is as follows: 'In the Premier League, offsides are determined by the VAR using Hawk-Eye's virtual offside line technology. This has two levels.
- Gridline - 'A two-dimensional line, which can be quickly positioned in line with the final defender for clear offside decisions.'
- Crosshair - 'These are two lines that are positioned for the defender and attacker. The offside lines are drawn against the parts of the body of attacking and defending players that can be used to score goals. (These parts of the body are the same for all players, no matter their playing position).
'The lines can also take into account parts of the body off the ground, which is shown as a 3D vertical line. The positioning of the crosshair is manual, with a line one-pixel wide, so that the exact position of the offside line and the relevant body part can be accurately identified by the VAR.
'To begin with the two lines, attacking and defending, are coloured yellow and black. In this state, the VAR can change the position of each line. These lines are not the final confirmed position.
'From the 2021/22 season, the process was tweaked as part of an adjustment to the implementation of VAR. Firstly, for marginal offside decisions, after the one-pixel lines are applied, the VAR puts on the thicker broadcast lines and where they overlap, those situations will now be deemed as onside.
'In the first two seasons of VAR, the Premier League displayed the whole process of the VAR determining the offside call to broadcasters, who could share with viewers. For 2021/22, all that will be shared with viewers is the final image confirming the decision of offside or not.'
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