The moment involving Moises Caicedo has sparked fresh calls to rethink how officials use VAR.
Spotlight Falls on VAR After Caicedo Red Card
The clash between Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and Arsenal’s Mikel Merino lit a fuse that has now reached far beyond the match itself. Referee Anthony Taylor first reached for a yellow, judging the challenge as mistimed but not reckless.
Although, seconds later, VAR invited him to the screen and the tone of the night changed. The caution became a straight red, leaving Chelsea stunned and fans arguing over what they had witnessed.
Now, the debate around slow-motion replays has grown louder. Critics say the footage can exaggerate contact and turn a normal tackle into something that looks far worse. Gary Lineker, who once pushed for VAR to clean up errors, didn’t hold back this time.
On The Rest Is Football podcast, he claims the incident showed exactly why the system keeps creating more drama instead of reducing it.
Lineker Questions the System He Once Defended
Lineker admitted that the replay angles made Caicedo’s tackle seem harsher than it looked in real time. For someone who backed VAR from the start, his words says a lot about where the sport stands today. He even confessed that he regrets supporting the technology in the first place.
The bigger issue is trust. Fans feel unsure about how calls are made. In addition, the players have no idea what version of a tackle the referee is seeing. At the end, managers are left to explain calls that feel inconsistent.
With emotions high and pressure rising around every major call, Lineker’s voice adds weight. This is a growing belief that something needs to change before the game loses faith in its own system.
Author’s opinion:
VAR was meant to give clarity, yet it keeps adding confusion. Football needs technology, but not at the cost of common sense. A fair balance must return before the sport drifts even further from its flow.
As featured on Chelseanews.com
