The EFL has announced that VAR would not be utilised for the Carabao Cup semifinals, which should delight many supporters of Liverpool and the other three participating clubs.
In the competition’s last four, the Reds play Fulham; the first leg is played at Anfield on Wednesday night, and the second leg is played there a fortnight later. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Middlesbrough play for the other spot in the Wembley final next month.
In order to maintain consistency across all four semi-final matches, it has been determined that VAR would not be utilised at all during this round of the competition because the Teesside club has only been in the Championship since 2017–18 and so does not have the technology in place.
According to an explanation on the official EFL website: “VAR technology will not be used in the Carabao Cup semi-final stage this season, given that the system is not installed at one of the participating semi-finalist Clubs and to maintain fairness and consistency.”
This is consistent with earlier competition rounds this year, where VAR was accessible at some grounds but not at all. Wembley Stadium has VAR installed, and in keeping with our prior promise, VAR will be utilised in the February championship game.
Liverpool fans will probably be happy that VAR isn’t present for the Carabao Cup semifinals given their team’s negative experiences with it this year.
The events of September 30, 2023, when a ridiculous communications error between the referees using the technology led to the disqualification of a perfectly fair goal by Luis Diaz in a 2-1 loss at Tottenham, will never be forgotten by supporters of the LFC.
In the Reds’ recent Boxing Day victory over Burnley, two more good goals were also disallowed. Harvey Elliott’s goal was particularly infuriating because Mo Salah had been pushed into an offside position, something that the VAR officials neglected to notice.
The general consensus was that it was refreshing to watch games without the interference of a system that was supposed to reduce refereeing controversies in England but has actually done the exact opposite. Over the weekend, some FA Cup third round matches went smoothly without the technology in place.
James Pearce of Athletic responded to the news on social media about VAR not being used in the Carabao Cup semifinals with dancing and OK-hand emojis. Many Liverpool supporters, who have grown tired of the highly controversial system in recent months, probably shared Pearce’s sentiments.
