Aston Villa boss Unai Emery blasts referees insisting they are NOT using VAR 'enough and correctly' after Jhon Duran's red against Newcastle
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Unai Emery has accused referees’ chiefs of using VAR to protect officials’ reputations rather than ensuring they make the right decisions. Aston Villa are furious at two recent incidents: the failure to award Morgan Rogers a penalty in the 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest on December 14, and the straight red card shown to Jhon Duran in the 3-0 loss at Newcastle on Boxing Day.
![[Villa’s appeal against Jhon Duran's red was dismissed and his three-match ban upheld]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/30/20/93595927-0-image-a-20_1735590245617.jpg)
Villa’s appeal against the Duran decision was dismissed and his three-match ban upheld. Now Emery – who has rarely criticised officials during his time at Villa – has used his programme notes ahead of Monday’s clash with Brighton to question whether VAR is being deployed in the right way.
‘In our opinion, the referees are not using enough and correctly the VAR,’ he said. ‘The Video Assistant Referee came to help us avoid injustice or mistakes, and if we use it to protect a certain way of understanding the refereeing of football or just to protect whatever it takes for the on-field decisions to be delivered – right or wrong – by the referee.
‘If we start to use the VAR in a political way, we are forgetting that the video tool is here to protect mainly the game and the fairness of the competition. Unai Emery has accused referees’ chiefs of using VAR to protect officials’ reputations. Villa’s appeal against Jhon Duran's red was dismissed and his three-match ban upheld.
‘VAR is not a tool to protect or to be under any ego, any system or any individual. VAR cannot be overused to break the spirit of the game but if it is existing and available, VAR neither must be underused on purpose and let big mistakes happen without using all the tools correctly.’.
