‘Wrong call’ – Keith Hackett blasts VAR after Sunderland penalty overturned vs Man United
VAR came under fire from Keith Hackett after Sunderland’s controversial first-half penalty was overturned
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has criticised VAR’s intervention in Sunderland’s controversial first-half penalty incident during the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Hackett, who previously served as general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), believes referee Stuart Attwell was right to award the spot-kick for what he described as a “reckless” high boot inside the area. Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett said he did not believe the incident met the threshold for VAR involvement.
“It was an interesting decision in the Manchester United versus Sunderland game, where referee Stuart Atwell awarded a penalty kick for what was a high boot. VAR Neil Davis, an assistant referee operating at Stockley Park, intervened and, as a result, the penalty kick was overturned. For me, that's a wrong call.
“The boot was high, it was reckless and, in law, a reckless challenge if you like or a reckless act is a cautionable offence. So, for me on this occasion, Stuart Atwell's decision was the correct one in the first place. It wasn't a clear and obvious error. You can still be reckless without contact, and as far as I'm concerned, VAR should not have intervened.”
Hackett’s comments add to the growing debate around the first-half flashpoint, which saw Attwell point to the spot after Trai Hume appeared to be caught by Benjamin Šeško’s raised foot. After consulting the pitchside monitor, the referee reversed his own decision, with the Premier League later explaining that no contact was made with Hume’s head and therefore the penalty was not valid.
Hackett, however, insists that even without contact, the challenge warranted a foul and cautioned against VAR “re-refereeing” subjective calls. The incident came at a key moment for Sunderland, who were 2-0 down and looking to claw their way back into the game. Moments later, Dan Ballard headed wide from close range as Granit Xhaka’s corner almost brought the visitors back into contention.
After the decision, the Premier League said: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Sunderland,” the statement said. Referee announcement: “After review, there is no foul by the Manchester United player. He does not make contact with the head of the attacker. As the ball is out of play when the decision was made, the final decision is corner kick.”
Explaining the process, fellow former referee Mike Dean said: “The pictures me and Tim [Sherwood] were seeing, unfortunately, looked like it wasn’t given on field and was sent to VAR. I did a bit of digging at half-time, and the referee actually gave the decision on field, so for me, he’s got that wrong.
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“I had a bit of a go at Neil Davies, the VAR, saying he shouldn’t have got involved, but he was right to get involved as it was the wrong call by the referee. Neil got it right, sent him to the screen, it was overturned, and the correct decision was made.”
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