Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has slammed VAR specialist Lee Mason after his Nottingham Forest blunder.
The Reds gave a penalty away when Dean Henderson was adjudged to have fouled Yoane Wissa in Saturday’s 2-2 draw.
Forest conceded through Bryan Mbuemo’s penalty and then fell behind in the second half when Wissa scored himself.
A look at the replays, however, showed that the penalty was incorrectly given, with Henderson getting a thumb on the ball.
Mason hung up the whistle last season and is now a specialist VAR official based at Stockley Park.
It’s not the first time that he’s given something bizarre in the direction of a ream facing Forest.
Back in 2019, he pointed to the spot when Dwight Gayle was later found guilty of diving during a game against West Brom.
That cost Forest two points and Martin O’Neill was left unimpressed with his performance on the night.
Hackett thinks Mason’s involvement in the Premier League is now reaching breaking point.
He’s made the astonishing claim that some officials should now refuse to work with him on top-flight games.
Mason slammed by Hackett and he’s got a point
Refereeing is tough. It’s harder than that and at times, certain players make it impossible.
On Saturday, however, Mason ensured that a straightforward game for Andre Marriner was made to look ridiculously hard.
This isn’t a bitter Forest fan taking a biased look at things, it’s the fact that certain VAR officials are ruining the game as a spectacle.
The challenge by Henderson wasn’t even the subject of an appeal from Brentford players on the pitch.
It certainly wasn’t a clear and obvious error, with Forest absolutely right to feel hard done by.
Furthermore, the Reds were denied at least one penalty of their own in a game that many had deemed must win.
It might not be too long before Hackett’s claim that officials should stop working with Mason comes to fruition.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
