Jarred Gillett back on VAR for Arsenal’s game at Newcastle

Liverpool-supporting Jarred Gillett is once again assigned to be in the VAR booth for an Arsenal match, this time overseeing the Gunners’ trip to Newcastle this weekend.

It is just weeks since his controversial intervention in Arsenal’s clash against Bournemouth, which resulted in William Saliba being sent off and subsequently missing Arsenal’s match against Liverpool—a crunch tie that ended 2-2.

The Newcastle match will be the fifth time this season that Gillett has been directly involved in an Arsenal game, whether as the referee (twice) or as the VAR (thrice).

This means Gillett will have played a key officiating role in a full 50% of Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures so far, a figure that appears disproportionate compared to other officials, none of whom have been involved in more than two of Arsenal’s matches.

Arsenal fans will remember Gillett’s controversial handling of incidents in their opening game of the season against Wolves, in which he failed to even book Yerson Mosquera for two serious offences—choking Kai Havertz and a bizarre incident involving Gabriel Jesus when he appeared to stick his finger’s up the forward’s bum.

The match ended in an Arsenal win, but Gillett’s leniency left a sour taste.

Gillett was also the referee for Arsenal’s victory against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season. However, his time in the VAR booth has been particularly eventful.

During Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth, he intervened to tell the on-field referee to upgrade a yellow card to a red for Saliba—a call that raised eyebrows across the football community, especially as similar incidents have gone unpunished since.

Arsenal fans may also recall Gillett’s intervention during last season’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

Despite the on-field referee clearly seeing the incident, Gillett advised a penalty in Chelsea’s favour after Mykhailo Mudryk headed the ball onto Saliba’s arm from just two yards away.

Even Chelsea legend John Terry publicly disagreed with the decision.

In the same game, Gillett did not intervene when Chelsea’s goalkeeper absolutely flattened with Gabriel Jesus in an incident pundits across the board deemed a clear penalty.

The Australian official’s history of interventions against Arsenal goes back years.

In the 2019/20 season, Gillett’s involvement in a game against Crystal Palace saw him advising the on-field referee to overturn a yellow card for Wilfried Zaha, instead awarding a penalty to Palace after what appeared to be a dive.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg even voiced his puzzlement over the decision, describing it as incorrect, particularly as the on-field official, Martin Atkinson, was in an ideal position to see the incident clearly.

Clattenburg also questioned the ruling out of a late Sokratis goal that would have secured an Arsenal win.

“By comparison, VAR left me puzzled at the Emirates Stadium yesterday,” Clattenburg wrote. “I’m still lost as to why they got involved to award Crystal Palace a penalty against Arsenal when, in my opinion, Wilfried Zaha clearly dived.

“Referee Martin Atkinson was right to book the Palace man for simulation. He was in a perfect position to make the call, too. Calum Chambers’ leg was planted and Zaha threw himself to the ground. Atkinson spotted his ploy and produced a yellow card. Then VAR got involved. They told their man on the ground to overturn his original decision and award a spot-kick instead. It was a gift for Palace.

“Then in the last 10 minutes, Sokratis scored to make it 3-2, only for VAR to chalk it off. Meanwhile, those at home and inside the stadium were left trying to work out why. Australian Jarred Gillett was the video official at Stockley Park and I would love to have heard his reasoning.”

This far-from exhaustive catalogue of incidents raises questions not only about Gillett’s decision-making but also about the consistency of VAR interventions.

This repeated assignment of Gillett to Arsenal games also remains puzzling, especially considering his declared support for Liverpool, a direct rival of Arsenal in the current title race.

While Gillett has rightly been excluded from officiating Liverpool games to avoid any perception of bias, his involvement in Arsenal’s matches has not been similarly scrutinised.

It’s worth emphasising that no one is suggesting that Gillett or any official would consciously favour one team over another.

However, psychological principles such as the mere-exposure effect suggest that repeated involvement in the same team’s matches can lead to unintended bias, and that’s before you factor in unconscious bias, which all humans are susceptible to.

The mere-exposure effect posits that familiarity can unconsciously shape an individual’s judgment—a concern that should be taken seriously when decisions have such significant ramifications in high-stakes Premier League encounters.

The Premier League insists that VAR appointments are made with impartiality and fairness in mind. Yet, as fans grow increasingly frustrated with controversial decisions and inconsistent officiating, having the same VAR official repeatedly involved in key games inevitably leads to questions.

When the stakes are as high as they are in the Premier League, with every decision potentially impacting the outcome of the title race, such appointments merit further scrutiny.