Following the Liverpool defender’s tackle on Alexander Isak against Newcastle United, VAR officials reviewed and overturned Virgil van Dijk’s red card.
Due to the incident that occurred on the outskirts of the Reds’ penalty area and prevented Isak from having a chance to test Alisson inside the box, the Dutch defender was sent off by referee John Brooks.
Although replays revealed the Swedish attacker made contact with the ball first, VAR officials Stuart Attwell and Constantine Hatzidakis examined the video and approved of Brooks’ initial determination. This could only have been reversed if the two had found that their colleague had made a “clear and evident” mistake.
Many point to updated instructions on DOGSO events provided before of the current campaign by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) as the reason why many Liverpool supporters are perplexed by this red card. Although this only pertains to conduct inside the penalty area, many have accurately pointed out that only sincere attempts to play the ball in DOGSO scenarios will result in a yellow and not a red card.
This new regulation was unable to enter the referee’s consideration because Van Dijk’s challenge on Isak occurred outside of the penalty area. As a result, the official was unable to determine whether Liverpool’s No. 4 deserved his punishment.
Commenting on their update to DOGSO, which comes under Law 12 of the Laws of the Game, the IFAB earlier this year explained: “Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.), the offending player must be sent off.”
