VAR conspiracy theories are nonsense but stem from helpless fans' plight

Another weekend, another slew of wearying arguments about VAR and refereeing. At Bournemouth, Arsenal fans called the referee Robert Jones "a cheat" and chanted that the Premier League was "corrupt". On social media, the outrage was even greater. Fans have always complained about referees, of course, but traditionally they called them "blind" and dismissed them as "wankers" or "bastards". Then came the "You're not fit to referee" song; the cries of systemic corruption, though, are relatively new.

- Jonathan Wilson

Perhaps this is just the world we live in, one of distortions and paranoia, shaped by a diverse range of populist cynics from José Mourinho to Donald Trump, social media nurturing conspiracy theories which sprout from the fertile ground left as Covid retreated. Or perhaps there is something more complex going on. But before we get to that, it's worth stressing that none of the key decisions in the games involving the major title contenders at the weekend were in any sense terrible or inexplicable. William Saliba was rightly sent off in Arsenal's defeat at Bournemouth; he deliberately pulled back Evanilson when the Brazilian was favourite to latch on to Leandro Trossard's sliced pass, with Ben White about 30 yards away and unlikely to recover. Was the error obvious enough for VAR to intervene? Yes, clearly.