Ironically, going to the monitor was brought in to show the referee IS in charge. Uniquely as far as I know, when the Premier League brought in VAR, they didn’t use the pitchside monitor - just went with the remote decision. People complained that was re-refereeing the game so we now have to endure the farce that delays getting to the same decision even more.
Perhaps rather than wondering’was that clear and obvious?’ they should actually ask the ref a question. ‘Did you see the incident clearly?’ If the ref says “yes”, then VAR has no business getting involved. In situations like Chelsea’s penalty today you’ve got one ref who’s seen it and thinks it’s not a penalty and a second who’s seen it and thinks it is. In which case, you should have to go with the on-field decision. Granted, that might have meant we’d incorrectly have had one at the end but the whole thing’s a shambles anyway - let’s at least try to make it a less intrusive shambles.
