Leeds United development baffles in Championship VAR claim — ‘Ludicrous’
Leeds United beat Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship on Tuesday, but the game wasn’t without its controversies.
Daniel Farke’s team travelled to the Riverside Stadium on 8 April and Daniel James’ goal in the opening minutes of the game was enough to seal the three points.
The Whites could’ve had two more goals as Ao Tanaka and Patrick Bamford had their strikes disallowed for offside, but they looked on.
With VAR not in place in the Championship, such potential officiating errors are expected, but they haven’t gone down well.
Leeds United disallowed goals v Middlesbrough ludicrous as VAR wanted
Lee Hendrie slammed ludicrous decisions by the officials to wrongly disallow two goals as the Whites beat Boro.
The Sky Sports pundit was baffled to see the assistant referees raise their flags and call what seemed to be perfectly good strikes offside.
| Championship table (2024/25) | Points |
| 1. Leeds | 85 |
| 2. Burnley | 85 |
| 3. Sheffield United | 83 |
Hendrie feels that the Championship and lower leagues in England suffer because VAR doesn’t operate there.
Speaking to Football League World (9 April), the former Aston Villa midfielder said: “I did the game last night on commentary, and the two goals that were disallowed were absolutely ludicrous. They were two really, really bad decisions from either official.
“They had a good view of the first one, and to have two goals ruled out that were clearly and obviously goals, this is where the Championship and lower leagues do suffer for not having VAR.”
Farke delighted with top spot despite refereeing errors at Riverside
The decisions at the Riverside Stadium would have angered Farke, and one couldn’t blame him for fuming at what happened.
While the Whites came away with the three points in the end, the result could’ve easily gone the other way.
With the race for automatic promotion heating up, every point counts for the West Yorkshire outfit.
Leeds have pipped Burnley and Sheffield United in the Championship to retain first place as both teams dropped points, again giving the Elland Road faithful hope of winning the title.
Farke was under pressure after three consecutive draws and dropping out of the top two, but things look more promising now.
It goes to show the uncertainty in the Championship, and the Elland Road faithful will be nervous with five games left in the league.
The Whites will see VAR in action if they are promoted to the Premier League, but that comes with its own issues as well.
Officiating across the board needs to get better rather than blaming the lack of technology.