The third round of Premier League matches brought yet more controversy, including an unpunished kick to the head in a London derby and confusion around a goal disallowed for handball.Graham Scott refereed in the Premier League for a decade before retiring in 2025 to return to his previous career as a journalist. He was a video assistant referee (VAR) more than 100 times and brings a unique insight into how officials operate, both on the pitch and in the video booth.As The Athletic’s resident refereeing expert, he answers your questions about the weekend’s big in-game decisions and VAR interventions…Why was Neco Williams’ goal not allowed to stand when there was no clear, visual evidence of a handball and initially the goal was given?
– Tarun ABased on the replays shown on TV, I was surprised this goal was ruled out by VAR, as the available evidence was inconclusive.A new angle has since been released by the referees’ body, Pro Ref, which must be taken from one of the cameras used by the semi-automated offside system.The only other possibility is that it was footage obtained by a Nottingham Forest analyst for internal use, but it seems implausible that the club would release video proving Williams had handled, especially given Williams’s post-match interview denying any such thing.Forest’s goal was disallowed for this Neco Williams handball (Michael Regan/Getty Images)The VAR protocol is clear that video officials can only review the TV broadcast footage, so the separate cameras used for semi-automated offside should not have been available.It does throw up the question of whether this should continue to be the case, given that they proved in this instance that the correct decision was reached.Earlier this season, West Bromwich Albion striker Aune Heggebo was suspended for two matches by the FA after scoring with his hand at Norwich City in a Championship game. Williams will not be charged because Heggebo’s offence was successfully deceiving a match official. Ultimately, Williams did not.Do you think the decision not to punish Gabriel for kicking Emiliano Martinez in the head was correct?
