Ex-PGMOL boss: Kyle Walker should be 'charged and suspended' after Man United incident: 'What was VAR doing?'
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Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has claimed that Manchester City defender Kyle Walker should be “charged and suspended” following a controversial incident in the recent clash between Manchester United and Burnley, and has questioned how VAR failed to intervene.
The flashpoint came when United defender Lisandro Martínez had an apparent equaliser ruled out after a corner, with referee Stuart Attwell blowing for a foul on Walker in the build-up. The Premier League later stated that VAR had checked the incident and decided there was a “clear foul” by Martínez on Walker, confirming the on-field decision and disallowing the goal.[1]
Hackett, however, is said to be furious with Walker’s conduct in the incident and believes the defender’s actions brought the game into disrepute. He argues that the footage shows Walker exaggerating the contact and going to ground too easily under Martínez’s challenge, thereby deceiving the referee. In Hackett’s view, this type of behaviour should be treated as simulation and punished retrospectively with a charge and suspension to protect the integrity of officiating.
He also heavily criticises the VAR team, asking what they were “doing” when they reviewed the incident. Hackett insists that, with the benefit of multiple replays and angles, the officials at Stockley Park should have identified Walker’s exaggeration and advised the on-field referee either to let the goal stand or to book Walker for simulation instead of penalising Martínez. Allowing the decision to stand, he suggests, undermines confidence in VAR and referees.
The former referees’ chief uses the incident to highlight wider concerns about VAR’s consistency, accusing the system and its operators of failing to apply the laws of the game correctly and of protecting high-profile players from scrutiny. He reiterates that retrospective punishment for cases like Walker’s is essential to deter similar conduct and to restore trust in Premier League officiating.