Review panel finds first Adelaide penalty against Auckland FC should not have been awarded

Auckland FC players thank the home fans after their draw with Adelaide United. Photo / Photosport

A review panel has decided the video assistant referee should not have intervened and a penalty should not have been awarded to Adelaide United in their 4-4 draw with Auckland FC on Saturday.

Referee Daniel Elder was called back during play in the 60th minute of the A-League clash to review an earlier challenge by Auckland FC midfielder Louis Verstraete on Adelaide’s Ethan Alagich inside the penalty area.

After the on-field review was conducted, it was judged Verstraete’s contact on Alagich met the threshold for a penalty and one was awarded.

With Auckland ahead 3-1, Zach Clough converted the spot kick to make it 3-2 and get the visitors back into the match.

After each round of A-Leagues fixtures, the referees review panel convenes to look at any incident from the round and review the performances of appointed match officials.

Football Australia said in a statement provided to the Herald the panel found the initial decision of no penalty was correct and the VAR was wrong to intervene and recommend an on-field review.

The panel also found the final decision of a penalty was incorrect as the challenge fell below the contact threshold.

“The review panel thought the initial decision by the referee was correct. They felt the VAR was wrong to intervene and recommend an on-field review (OFR).

“The review panel believe the final decision of penalty following the review was incorrect as it fell below the contact threshold.”

Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker told the Herald the club’s position was that the referee’s initial decision was the correct one and that the VAR’s decision to intervene changed the course of the match.

“The review panel have confirmed what 17,000 Auckland FC fans felt last Saturday afternoon. In our opinion it was never a penalty, the referee was well positioned to make the call and his original decision to allow play to continue was the correct one.

“We appreciate the panel’s openness and transparency, but VAR’s intervention was frustrating and by convincing the referee to award a penalty, it changed the course of the match. VAR has always been championed as the best way to review clear and obvious errors, not to create them.

“We will put this behind us now and look ahead to this weekend’s away trip to Newcastle and then back at Go Media for our home match against Central Coast on 16 March.”

It was not the only controversial penalty awarded during the match as in the 77th minute Auckland defender Tommy Smith brought down Stefan Mauk in the area and again Clough scored from the penalty spot.

In the case of the second penalty, Football Australia said the review panel found the decision of a penalty was correct.

Auckland FC coach Steve Corica was visibly upset at the second penalty ruling and earned a yellow card for his outburst.