Official involved in Fulham v Wolves controversy on VAR duty for Burnley's must-win Sheffield United clash

The official involved in the VAR controversy during Wolves’ defeat to Fulham will be on the monitors during Burnley’s must-win clash against Sheffield United.
Matt Scrafton
By Matt Scrafton
Published 28th Nov 2023, 12:57 GMT
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Wolves boss Gary O’Neil was left to lament VAR once again after his side found themselves on the wrong end of a number of questionable decisions during their 3-2 defeat to Fulham on Monday night.

Stuart Attwell was on duty at Stockley Park and sent on-field referee Michael Salisbury to the pitchside monitor after Fulham’s Harry Wilson had gone down in the box under the challenge of Joao Gomes.

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After reviewing the footage, Salisbury gave a penalty – the third of the game – while O'Neil felt his side were on the wrong end of four decisions.

O'Neil felt Fulham's first penalty shouldn't have been given and that Tim Ream should have been sent off after bringing down Hwang Hee-Chan in the box for Wolves' own spot kick.

Carlos Vinicius again wasn't sent off despite headbutting Max Kilman, before the late penalty drama that left O'Neil fuming once more.

“I’ve been in to see the referee,” O’Neil said. “He regrets the fact he’s not been sent to the screen to overturn the first penalty and he thinks he would have overturned it from the images he’s seen.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: A general view of the inside of the stadium as The LED board shows the message "Checking Possible Penalty Foul", after a VAR Review takes place after Harry Wilson of Fulham (not pictured) is fouled by Joao Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers (not pictured), during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Craven Cottage on November 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: A general view of the inside of the stadium as The LED board shows the message "Checking Possible Penalty Foul", after a VAR Review takes place after Harry Wilson of Fulham (not pictured) is fouled by Joao Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers (not pictured), during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Craven Cottage on November 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: A general view of the inside of the stadium as The LED board shows the message "Checking Possible Penalty Foul", after a VAR Review takes place after Harry Wilson of Fulham (not pictured) is fouled by Joao Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers (not pictured), during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Craven Cottage on November 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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“Ream should receive a second yellow card. We then discussed the head-butt. He debated that and he said it was a soft head- butt. I said that’s crazy.

“They’ve since sent a representative saying it should have been a red. The Wilson one, they think they’ve got right. I disagree. There’s minimal contact. I don’t think there’s enough.

“I feel for the fans. We’re probably seven points down. You can say sorry, you can send me flowers, but we should be on 22 points.”

Attwell is now on VAR duty for Burnley’s game against relegation rivals Sheffield United on Saturday.

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Chris Kavanagh, meanwhile, is the referee, taking charge of his first Burnley game since the 2-0 home defeat to Leicester City in March 2022.

Burnley currently sit bottom of the Premier League table on four points, while Blades sit third bottom on five.

Related topics:Gary O'NeilSheffield UnitedFulhamBurnleyVARWolves