‘Unbelievable response’ – Spurs fans fume at referee board response to Kane penalty call

The official referees board has confirmed Mike Dean’s decision to not award Tottenham a penalty against Newcastle was not overturned by VAR because there was “not enough evidence” to change the initial call.

Spurs were trailing 1-0 to Newcastle at home when Harry Kane appeared to be hauled to ground by Jamaal Lascelles. Dean waved away Tottenham’s appeals and the VAR stuck with the referee’s decision despite suggestions he made a “clear and obvious” error – watch the incident here and make up your own mind.

Later, the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) released a statement, likely because they received a number of questions about why Kane was not deemed to have been fouled by the VAR.

Via journalist Paul Brown, the statement read: “It was considered not to be a penalty by the on-field referee. As this was a subjective decision, the VAR deemed that there was not enough evidence to overturn the original call and so stuck with the on-field decision.”

From one point of view, the PGMOL’s statement makes sense. Dean saw the incident and deemed there was not enough contact for a penalty to be awarded, so the VAR did not overrule him because his decision was not categorically wrong in a “clear and obvious” way.

That said, many Tottenham fans believe replays showed it was a clear penalty, meaning the decision should have been overturned regardless of what Dean had initially given.

Below are some of the reactions from Spurs supporters. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

EVERY DECISION IS A SUBJECTIVE DECISION. This is an unbelievable response. They don’t have a clue what they’re doing.

— Simon Pulman (@simonpulman) August 25, 2019

In that case every penalty is a subjective decision

— Jamie (@tobin_jamie) August 25, 2019

So what’s the fucking point in having it

— HopSpur (@hop_spur) August 25, 2019

But isnt the replay showing a clear attempt to take down Kane considered evidence?

— D∆N (@2012xof) August 25, 2019

So no penalty decision will ever be reversed? What is the point of using VAR for penalties then?

— David Rich (@richboydave) August 25, 2019

Was a def pen,but the fault lays with Dean not VAR.

— Lilywhite (@lillywhite10) August 25, 2019

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