World Cup 2018: Denmark dealt rough VAR call against Australia, says Mark Halsey

I CANNOT believe Australia were awarded a penalty for a handball against Denmark.

Yes, the header from Mathew Leckie bounced off the outstretched hand of Yussuf Poulsen in the penalty area.

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But it was not a deliberate act by the Danish forward.

Law 12 says handling the ball “involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm.”

The ref must always consider if there has been movement of the hand towards the ball as well as the distance between the opponent and the ball.

The position of the hand doesn’t necessarily mean there is an offence.

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It is also remarkable the ref, who didn’t give a penalty initially, was recommended by the VAR team to review it on the pitchside monitor.

It was not a clear error.

IFAB’s David Elleray said the Switzerland equaliser against Brazil last Sunday was untouched by VAR because it wasn’t a clear error by the match officials.

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So, therefore why did they review this — it wasn’t an error?

I can also only assume the referees are under pressure now to give incidents once it goes to VAR and it is reviewed again.

Maybe their attitude is that they are then absolved of any responsibility and can blame the VAR if it is the wrong call?