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Premier League: Frank Lampard, Carlo Ancelotti call for review of VAR after season ends

The latest controversial incident that the VAR has caused took place on Thursday during the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United.

Premier League: Frank Lampard, Carlo Ancelotti call for review of VAR after season ends

Frank Lampard file image. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Chelsea head-coach Frank Lampard has called for “a big reflection” on the usage of VAR in the English Premier League after the end of the ongoing season due to the number of controversies the technology has caused in its debut season.

The latest controversial incident took place on Thursday during the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United. Harry Kane’s equaliser in the first half was ruled out by the VAR after it was controversially found that Lucas Moura had touched the ball with his hand while dealing with several Sheffield United players before assisting Kane.

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho had launched a scathed attack against the review technology after the match, saying, “I can only say that normally I’m a professional guy on the bench in these moments, I never complain at the guy with the whistle because it’s not the referee any more.”

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“This is the start of everything. I think the referee should always be the man on the pitch and the people in the office should just support and assist,” he said as quoted by PTI via AFP.

Supporting his former coach, Lampard said that Kane’s goal against Sheffield should have stood. “It was certainly one where common sense could have been involved but if the rule book states something, then the handball is given.

“We need a big reflection at the end of the season.

“VAR has improved us in ways but there are ways to improve it and I think a collective sit-down at the end of the season with everybody — referees, managers, players, anybody involved in football that loves the game can have an input to try and get it closer to where we want to get it to,” the former Chelsea midfielder explained.

Another former Chelsea manager and current Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti also called for a review of the “complicated” technology and said that it has been the root cause of some difficulties this season.

“I think the decision they have made comes from the rules that there are in place in this moment and so maybe at the end of this season we can think if it’s possible to change this type of rule but in this moment it’s like this and we have to respect the rules,” Ancelotti pointed.

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