Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte stated that VAR is causing “a lot of damage” to sport after a disputed late Harry Kane goal was disallowed in Wednesday’s 1-1 Champions League Group D draw with Sporting.
Emerson Royal headed the ball across the goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, after which Kane scored from close range with almost the final shot of the game.
After a lengthy VAR review, Tottenham’s wild celebrations over a game-winning goal that would have advanced them to the round of 16 turned to bitter disappointment, and Dutch referee Danny Makkelie threw out Antonio Conte for his reaction.
Photos of the verdict with VAR lines superimposed revealed that Kane’s knee may have been millimeters offside when Emerson headed the ball across, despite the fact that Kane received the ball from a Sporting defender.
“I believe that the ball was in front of Kane, and the goal stands.” Yeah. I can not comprehend the statement they made. This choice is extremely difficult to comment on, Conte said BT Sport.
“VAR is causing significant harm. I want to test if another large team’s stadium is prepared to deny this type of goal. I’m curious about this.
“A lot of wrongdoing. I dislike this type of circumstance. I see nothing positive,” he continued.
Denied by VAR!
Tottenham thought they’d won and secured qualification for the #UCL Last 16 but Kane’s added-time goal was chalked off 👀 pic.twitter.com/9gybuwJUVC
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 26, 2022
“I think the ball was in front of Kane and the goal is a goal. Yeah. I don’t understand the line they put. It’s very difficult to comment on this decision,” Conte told BT Sport.
“VAR is doing a lot of damage. I want to see if in another stadium of a big team if they are ready to disallow this type of goal. I’d like to know this.
“A lot of injustice. I don’t like this type of situation. I see not positive things,” he added.