The Football League looks set to use VAR technology for the Championship play-offs as Nottingham Forest aim to return to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.
Forest, Huddersfield Town Sheffield United, Luton, Millwall and Middlesbrough are all in contention to secure a place in the play-offs with promotion thought to be worth a staggering £195million. And, according to the Telegraph, the clubs who could be involved have been offered video assistant referees for both the semi-finals and the final.
Clubs are thought to have given VAR the green light and it will be the first time it has been used in the Championship with the EFL recognising what is at stake for the teams involved and the revenue promotion to the Premier League will generate. Officiating in the Championship has faced heavy criticism this season and has been discussed in EFL meetings which have led clubs to voice their concerns at decisions they believe have cost them vital points.
The latest incident that hit the headlines was the decision not to award Forest a penalty when Sam Surridge was wrongly adjudged to be offside before he was brought down by goalkeeper Mark Travers when the score was 0-0. Forest head coach Steve Cooper said referee Stuart Attwell and his assistant had admitted it was the wrong decision.
"When the referee asked to see me and apologised, held his hands up, it doesn’t make it any better," he said. "They’ve owned up to a huge error. “It won’t soften me up. These things need to be reported correctly, which we do. There’s a lot of annoyance at that. We’ll get back, reflect and keep going.”
The Championship play-off final will be played at Wembley on Sunday, May 29.
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