Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has questioned the point of having referees on the pitch, saying VAR was bad for the game.
His comments came after his side were victims of a controversially disallowed equaliser in a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United in the 2019/2020 English Premier League (EPL).
Harry Kane thought he had levelled for Spurs almost immediately after Sander Berge had given the hosts the lead in their EPL clash at Bramall Lane.
But VAR officials at their bunker in Stockley Park ruled that Lucas Moura had used his arm in the build-up.
This was in spite of the Brazilian being shoved over and then having the ball booted against him while sliding headlong on the turf.
A pundit, Jamie Redknapp, described the decision as one of the worst he had seen and called for common sense.
Mourinho looked furious at the time but the Portuguese coach refused to turn his ire on referee Chris Kavanagh.
“I think the referee should always be the man on the pitch and the man in the office should support and assist,” Mourinho said of the incident. “But that’s not the way that it is.
“Especially a referee who’s not very good on the pitch, we can’t expect him to be very good in the office.
“We’re going into a direction that is very bad for a game which was the game that everyone fell in love with.
“Normally I am an emotional guy on the bench. But, in this moment, I never complain with the man with the whistle because he’s not the referee anymore.”
