Championship play-offs and VAR rules amid Daniel Farke's Leeds United frustration and promotion claim — YEP 13/5/24
By Will Jackson
Daniel Farke felt Leeds United had a goal wrongly ruled out
on Sunday at Carrow Road
Leeds United could have probably done with VAR on Sunday
afternoon as they took on Norwich City in their Championship play-off
semi-final first leg. The two sides played out a goalless draw at Carrow Road
but the game wasn't without incident with Leeds feeling aggrieved about a
couple of decisions made by the officiating team, led by referee Josh Smith, on
the day.
Leeds saw a goal ruled out and a penalty shout dismissed in
East Anglia, with the former incident leaving Farke feeling particularly hard
done by. However, should Leeds do enough on Thursday night to progress to the
play-off final, he will take comfort from the expectation that VAR will be in
use at Wembley.
VAR has been used in EFL play-off finals at Wembley since
2022 and there has been little to suggest that will change this time around,
with video technology available and in place at the national stadium. As such,
while VAR has its negatives, its presence should in theory rule out refereeing
controversy in the final, with so much on the line for both teams. Of course,
VAR will not be used on Thursday night with the system not in use at
Championship grounds this season.
The first decision that Leeds felt went against them on
Sunday came in the sixth minute as Wilfried Gnonto appeared to be pulled down
by Norwich's Borja Sainz on the very edge of the box. Ultimately, the location
of the incident didn't matter with Smith waving play on despite replays showing
Sainz did not win the ball.
That came before Junior Firpo's disallowed goal, which was
chalked off for an offside in the build-up, with Georginio Rutter adjudged to
have strayed over the line. That's the one that Farke felt the need to vent
about after the contest.
“Someone told me that Sky showed a picture where there’s
proof it was offside. It’s not offside," Farke said. “We also have the
rule that if you are in doubt you go in favour of the offensive team. It feels
like this is not in place any more. I’m annoyed by this. We’re playing at the
top level and small details make a difference. If you score it changes the whole
picture. Everyone speaks about Wembley as a £100m game and at this level all
these decisions have to be spot on.
“It’s also important that the official isn’t perhaps scared
that the whole stadium is moaning if they don’t give offside, so if in doubt
they give it in favour of the home team. No, if you’re in doubt you give it in
favour to the attacker. It’s definitely not offside if you have a look.
“I expect myself to be spot on with my decisions and my
players as well. Sorry, if you want to be in charge of such a game, you have to
do the same. I’m still very annoyed.”
Whether the decisions should have gone Leeds' way or not,
the Whites have seen a number of errors made by officials over the course this
season.