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Ex-Premier League referee lambasts VAR blunder as controversial Neco Williams footage emerges from Nottingham Forest
Keith Hackett has questioned why VAR intervened when Michael Oliver awarded Nottingham Forest a penalty in their 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday (3 September).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee insisted Oliver “was in a great position” when he awarded a spot-kick for a Lloyd Kelly handball and had not made a clear and obvious error.
As shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme, Kelly’s arms were in an unnatural position when he blocked a Neco Williams shot.
VAR operator Graham Scott told Oliver to review the footage on the pitchside monitor but he only took one look at it before deciding to stick with his original decision.
“Michael Oliver was in a great position,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“There is a saving action by the defender, he’s not protecting himself, he’s preventing the ball passing. As a result, it’s deliberate handball.
“Oliver has got it right. Why has the VAR intervened? It’s not a clear an obvious error, he’s got it right.
“Could Michael Oliver have been in a better position? No. Had he got a clear view? Yes. Did he sell the decision? Yes.
“Did the VAR undermine what he had done? There was a risk of doing that but Michael, rightfully, stuck to his guns. Well done him, because he was the shining light of the weekend.
“That’s what VAR is supposed to be, not an automatic ‘I’m going with the VAR’.
“The important bit is, they’ve got to sort out the clear and obvious because it changes every week. That was not clear and obvious error.
“It’s slightly subjective but the referee is in a good position.”
In other news, a medical insider has claimed the Nottingham Forest owner may be to blame for Moussa Niakhate’s injury