10 Worst VAR Decisions In Premier League History (Ranked)

10 Worst VAR Decisions In Premier League History (Ranked)

VAR has certainly been under plenty of fire since its installation into Premier League football in 2019. From wrong offsides to clear fouls, VAR has made plenty of error's in its time, with it not looking any better five years into its life. Decisions can take up to five minutes at times, all to not end at the right conclusion.

There has been quite a few wrong errors, but after yesterday's shocker in Newcastle vs Man City in the Carabao Cup it's left me wondering... what are the 10 worst VAR calls in Premier League history?

10: Andre Onana Foul

Manchester United vs Wolves - (2023)

Andre Onana certainly had a rocky time as first team goalkeeper for Manchester United. He made plenty of mistakes almost every week, with this one being very clumsy. He tried to punch away a cross from a corner, however the goalkeeper got no where near the ball and completely took out the attacking Wolves player. VAR however deemed this fair game and Wolves were not awarded a penalty and United went on to win the game 1-0!

Inside the VAR discussion on Andre Onana's clash against Wolves 📺 pic.twitter.com/FVJt5niQ2n

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 6, 2023

9: Cornet Late Equaliser Disallowed

Chelsea vs West Ham - (2022)

West Ham had a goal disallowed after Jarrod Bowen grazes the Chelsea keeper after he clears the ball straight to Maxwell Cornet who smashes the ball into the back of the net. VAR however decided that the contact on the keeper was a foul. The general consensus is that this is never a foul. Take a look for yourself.

Worst VAR call of the season? 🤔

Cornet's late equaliser for West Ham against Chelsea was contentiously disallowed for a foul on Mendy! 😶 pic.twitter.com/Ft1SpAWxtE

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022

8: Cavani Goal Disallowed After Foul

Tottenham vs Man United - (2021)

Man United scored a perfectly good goal through Edison Cavani, however VAR had been told to intervene due to a 'foul' in the build-up. This foul saw Son struck by a trailing finger from Mctominay, this was never enough contact for the reaction it got, but VAR decided that this was enough contact to disallow the goal!

🗣 "If this is a foul we should all go home, it's embarrassing."

Roy Keane is amazed that VAR disallowed Cavani's goal for a foul from McTominay on Son in the build-up pic.twitter.com/1xt0vjqQiG

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 11, 2021

7: Hoijberg Trips Mitoma

Tottenham vs Brighton - (2023)

This moment saw Mitoma in a great position inside the opposition box, with Hoijberg close by about to make a challenge. Hoijberg makes no contact with the ball, only with Mitoma's foot. The VAR decided that this wasn't a penalty, leaving Brighton fans outraged. Howard Webb admitted later to Brighton that this should have been given as a penalty. That isn't good enough however.

VAR 1: “Should we check that? Looks like Hojbjerg clearly stood on Mitoma’s foot there.”

VAR 2: “Nah, f*ck it, we’ve already done enough work today.” pic.twitter.com/fMkoNxxWwG

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2023

6: Soucek Handball Not Given

West Ham vs Chelsea - (2023)

Another feature on the list between Chelsea vs West Ham. This time Chelsea are on the unlucky side of the bad call. Soucek may be already going to ground but he quite clearly stops the ball with his own hand as if he was the goalkeeper! I really can't believe that VAR deemed this unworthy of a penalty. Accidental or not he still quite clearly handballed it.

Yes, that was a clear handball from Soucek, even the leg movement to push himself towards the ball should have made it obvious enough for a VAR check pic.twitter.com/d1TNKRZViO

— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) February 11, 2023

5: Romero Hair Pull!

Chelsea vs Tottenham - (2022)

This one always pops up on the timeline every now and then, especially recently after we saw Michael Keane sent off for Everton for doing the same thing. Cristian Romero was behind Cucurella from a corner. He decided to pull on the back of his hair to try and get the edge on the defender. This somehow wasn't seemed as a red card decision!

What if Romero didn't pull cucurella's hair...... https://t.co/UfGLmgQRT8 pic.twitter.com/TGYQbehwOY

— Fraynk (@nna_nnia) November 19, 2025

4: VAR Drew The Wrong Lines!

Brighton vs Crystal Palace - (2023)

This is one that can never be repeated, it was pure incompetence. An Estupinian goal was wrongly disallowed after VAR drew the offside lines against the wrong defender, they didn't draw them against the defender furthest back! If they had drew the lines correctly then this goal would have been allowed which is so unprofessional from people working in the biggest football league in the world!

An Estupinan goal was ruled offside after the VAR identified the wrong defender as the last man. A stunning level of incompetence. pic.twitter.com/EV7yK9rxpC

— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) February 11, 2023

3: Rodri Handball

Everton vs Man City - (2022)

This is not only a terrible call in isolation, but it also had huge implications on the Premier League title race at the time. Liverpool and Man City were neck and neck, with the title eventually going Man City's way by a mere 1 point! This could have been completely different had this decision gone the correct way. Rodri controlled a bouncing ball with his arm wide out and the ball bouncing directly on it. Somehow VAR didn't deem this as a handball and City went on to win the game 1-0.

This apparently wasn’t handball by Rodri. I give up with this elitist refereeing pic.twitter.com/8MBJomPwtk

— Tom Rawle (@trawle91) February 26, 2022

2: Lines Were Forgotten To Be Drawn?

Arsenal vs Brentford - (2023)

This one is really odd. Arsenal were 1-0 up late in the game with Brentford pushing for an equaliser. This came through Ivan Toney but VAR needed to take a look. Christian Norgaard was seen by fans to be clearly offside in the build-up of the goal, before the ball reaches Toney however VAR never saw this nor did they draw any lines on the pitch to even check it! The person on VAR at the time, Lee Mason, was said to have forgotten to draw the lines on! Could you believe it!

🚨 VAR Lee Mason forgot to draw the offside lines on Ivan Toney's equaliser.

Christian Norgaard was offside in the build-up. Had the lines been drawn, the goal would have been disallowed and Arsenal would be 8 points clear at the top of the table.

✍️ @TheSharpeEnd pic.twitter.com/tVw4TZ184b

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) February 12, 2023

1: He's Clearly Onside!

Tottenham vs Liverpool - (2023)

Everyone knew what was gonna be first... This is quite clearly the worst error in VAR history. Luis Diaz broke through in behind Tottenham and found the back off the net. The linesman flagged it as offside so VAR needed to check. On the replay it was quite clear it was onside but the VAR had a mix up and the final decision was given as offside, the same as the on field decision. Liverpool were very hard done by and the fans couldn't believe it, I would know, being a Liverpool fan! This was clear case of the incompetence and how unprofessional the VAR system is.

Luis Díaz had a goal chalked off by VAR. @richardajkeys and Andy Gray take a closer look... #beINPL #TOTLIV pic.twitter.com/cDSpws1YrY

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) September 30, 2023