Determining whether the ball has made contact with a player’s hands can be one of the video assistant referee’s trickiest roles.
It involves using split-screen angles because depth perception can give incorrect suggestions that the ball is touching a hand or arm on just one camera.
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The decision comes down to VAR assessing the weight of the evidence and asking itself whether it can be sure the ball did come into contact with the hand.
In these situations, who chairs the VAR can make a difference. Because, while a handball before a goal is considered a factual determination, whether you think the ball touched your fingers in this situation is highly subjective.
Slow motion can help, but one shouldn’t rely too much on magnification. Broadcasters have higher frame rate options and super zoom, which Sky showed off just minutes after the game restarted.
In this case, VAR Stuart Atwell felt he had no conclusive evidence to overturn the goal. He may believe it is possible, but he cannot be absolutely certain.
Match referee Darren England explained this to both captains before the restart.
If you’re a Liverpool fan, you’ll definitely feel there’s evidence for that, of course.