Howard Webb backs VAR decision to leave Botman on a yellow card

Premier League referees' chief Howard Webb has supported the decision not to upgrade Sven Botman's yellow card for his challenge on Aston Villa striker Nicolas Jackson. BBC Sport reported that Webb regarded the tackle as being at the upper end of recklessness, but said the video assistant referee had not identified grounds to overturn the on-field ruling.

Watch the highlights:

Referee Jarred Gillett booked the Newcastle defender for the challenge in the 18th minute of Saturday's match. Botman went over the ball, with contact on Jackson coming from his trailing leg. Gillett judged the tackle reckless despite Botman touching the ball. Villa went on to win 1-0 through Johan Manzambi's goal in the 36th minute.

Stuart Attwell, the VAR, upheld the caution after assessing the nature of the contact. According to the BBC report, he found neither contact with the studs nor a subsequent scissoring movement. Those details were central to Webb's explanation on Match Officials Mic'd Up, where he outlined why a forceful challenge did not automatically require a video review to change the referee's decision.

Webb said a different outcome would probably have followed had the review shown strong contact from the studs of Botman's extended leg into Jackson's ankle or shin, or a closing scissor movement. Without those elements, he considered the decision subjective. He also stressed that accommodating physical tackling did not remove officials' responsibility to protect players.

Importantly, Webb said VAR would also have left a red card in place if Gillett had initially dismissed Botman. His explanation therefore did not present a yellow card as the only acceptable outcome. Instead, he described an approach that gives the referee responsibility for the original judgment, with video officials intervening when they can identify something clearly wrong rather than making the decision afresh.

BBC Sport also reported 21 VAR interventions across the opening seven rounds of this Premier League season, nine involving subjective decisions. At the corresponding stage last season, there had been three interventions and none was subjective. The league's Key Match Incidents Panel has judged one intervention incorrect this season and identified one missed intervention, compared with four errors involving missed interventions after seven rounds last season.