The video assistant referee (VAR) causes controversy every week, but how are the decisions made, and are they correct?
This season, we’ll take a look at key events to examine and explain the process in terms of both VAR protocol and the laws of the game.
All screenshots photo credit: TUDN
Andy Davies (@andydaviesref) is a former Select Group referee with over 12 seasons on the elite list, officiating in the Premier League and Championship. With extensive experience at the elite level, he has worked within the VAR area in the Premier League and offers a unique insight into the processes, logic and protocols provided on a Premier League match day.
Punch:Glenn Nyberg
VAR:Pol van Boeckel
Event, Cristiano Ronaldo Sent off for violent conduct after on-field review (OFR).
Time: 59th minute
What happened: With the Republic of Ireland defending their box, coming together between them Dara O’Shea And Ronaldo left the Ireland defender on the floor. Ronaldo made a crying gesture indicating that it was a dive, but Swedish referee Nyberg awarded him a free kick and a yellow card for aggressive behaviour.
😫🔴¡Insperado! Cristiano Ronaldo was ejected from the field
📲📺¡Disappointed with all UEFA qualifiers in VIX!#EliminatoriasEnVix pic.twitter.com/zPYWSetYdI
– TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) 13 November 2025
VAR decision: After viewing the footage, VAR recommended an OFR and an upgrade from a yellow card to a red card for a possible act of violent conduct by Ronaldo.
VAR Review: The footage reviewed by VAR clearly showed a deliberate action by Ronaldo on O’Shea. The process was then to determine whether the action was an aggressive act and met the threshold for OFR.
Boeckel and his assistant VAR believed it was a deliberate elbow by Ronaldo. And, regardless of the point of contact on O’Shea, the action involved a level of force that met the criteria for a violent act.
Boeckel recommended OFR to Nyberg, who consulted his pitchside monitor and agreed – he rescinded his original yellow card for Ronaldo and drew a red card instead.
Decision: A positive and correct intervention by VAR in this incident. When a player is so deliberate in his aggressive actions against an opponent, the threshold for a violent act is lowered. However, regardless of the contact point, this was a clear elbow offense committed by Ronaldo.
It was a blow to O’Shea’s upper body, but it is the action that is judged, not the contact – the law states that a red-card offense occurs when “a player attacks or attempts to attack an opponent.”
In my opinion, the original on-field incident was not fully witnessed by Nyberg or his assistants. This was an off-the-ball incident while the game was live, so it was not picked up in real time; The hesitation in their body language and questions over communication between officers would imply that this was a process of piecing together what happened rather than relying on facts.
However, this is another good example of VAR working as it should.
Ronaldo clearly did not agree and left the field sarcastically applauding the officials.
