Emma Hayes and Ian Wright were left bewildered by controversial refereeing decisions made during England’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night.
The duo spoke on ITV’s coverage as pundits for the match with Hayes lamenting the ‘inconsistences’ in the decision-making from the match officials and Wright calling out the decision to award Uruguay a late penalty.
Ben White had given England the lead in the second half having poked the ball home at the back post from a corner. The goal was initially reviewed by VAR and a tussle in the build up was judged not to be a foul.
VAR was then called into action in stoppage time as White and Federico Vinas both challenged for aerial ball inside the England box. Vinas got his foot to it first and White clipped his opponent’s foot resulting in a penalty being awarded to the away side which Federico Valverde subsequently scored to secure a draw.
“What do you want him to do? If he doesn’t put his foot out then it’s an open chance on goal. They’re both attempting to play the ball,” Hayes said when assessing the incident.
Wright went further and called on the referees to be aware that this type of contact is natural in football. He added: “Players will go down for that. Ben White is trying to block that.
“He’s not being malicious, not trying to stud him or anything, he’s just trying to block it. They’ve got to see these things the referees. It seems so logical to us when we watch it.
“You can’t expect a defender to just leave it, he’s got to try to block it, to do something.”
That incident was just one of a few that the pundits looked over during the post-match conversation with another controversial moment coming from a Ronald Araujo tackle on Phil Foden.
Araujo arrived late and landed, studs up, on Foden’s shin before putting weight on the midfielder’s ankle and forcing him off through injury.
Wright believed Foden was lucky to avoid a serious problem saying: “This is so close to being really bad for Phil. He’s so out of control this fella [Araujo], he’s so out of control.”
Hayes added that the tackle could have done big damage and called out the inconsistences in VAR.
“He could have broken [Foden’s] leg. It was a clear red card,” she said.
“What’s the point of having VAR? That’s what I don’t understand. If we’re using it for penalty or corner situations but not for blatant red card moments. I don’t understand.
“I think the strange thing about it is the inconsistences around decisions.”
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