Rooney says Villa Newcastle refereeing errors expose over reliance on VAR

• Wayne Rooney says officials now depend too heavily on VAR after high profile FA Cup mistakes
• Chris Kavanagh and his team criticised for several major decisions at Villa Park
• Debate grows over whether technology has weakened on field judgement

Wayne Rooney believes a series of costly refereeing errors during Aston Villa’s FA Cup defeat to Newcastle highlight a growing over reliance on VAR and a decline in decisive on field officiating.

Referee Chris Kavanagh and assistants Gary Beswick and Nick Greenhalgh came under intense scrutiny following their performance in the fourth round tie, which was played without VAR. Newcastle won 3-1 despite a sequence of controversial decisions that included a failure to flag Tammy Abraham offside for Villa’s opening goal, a missed shin high challenge by Lucas Digne that could have resulted in a straight red card, and a handball decision that led to a free kick despite the offence clearly occurring inside the penalty area.

Rooney, working as a pundit for the BBC, branded the handball call “one of the worst decisions” he had ever seen. Speaking later on his podcast, he said the mistakes reflected how dependent officials have become on video technology.

“I think there’s over reliance on VAR,” Rooney said. “Officials are used to having that help. Sometimes it gets them out of jail, and now without it, their decision making is affected. They are probably waiting for VAR to intervene and that’s what has cost them.”

He added that the handball decision reminded him of famous goal line errors involving Frank Lampard in 2010 and Pedro Mendes in 2005, when goals were not awarded despite the ball clearly crossing the line.

“I felt the linesman was in a very good position,” Rooney said. “It was a strange decision and a really bad mistake. I’m sure the officials will be disappointed.”

Former Premier League referee Graham Scott, who joined Rooney on the podcast, defended officials against claims they were hiding behind VAR.

“I know these guys and they’re not like that,” Scott said. “Their processes stay the same whether VAR is there or not. I spent half my career without it and half with it, and the mindset does not change.”

The debate has been further fuelled by Sunderland coach Regis Le Bris, who said Kavanagh admitted to making a mistake in a separate Championship match earlier this month. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe also acknowledged that the presence of VAR can subtly influence decision making.

“When VAR is there, there’s always that thought of let it go and check it,” Howe said. “Maybe that affects sharpness.”

VAR will be in operation from the fifth round of the FA Cup onwards. Meanwhile, Premier League officials continue to be encouraged to trust their instincts, with the league maintaining the lowest VAR intervention rate among Europe’s major competitions, prioritising clear and obvious errors over marginal calls.