GdS: Why VAR could not intervene despite suspected offside before Tomori’s red card | OneFootball

One of the most talked-about incidents during AC Milan’s win over Empoli yesterday is the red card shown to Fikayo Tomori, which threatened to derail the entire game.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Tomori received a second yellow card and therefore he was sent off, for a foul on a player in a suspected offside position. What happened? Let’s review the incident in full.

Empoli launched a counter-attack and the Milan loanee Lorenzo Colombo was found in a suspected offside position. Below is the image at the moment of Gyasi’s pass.

Referee Luca Pairetto and the linesman let the game play on, as often happens in the VAR era, knowing that if Colombo had gone on to score the offside would have been checked by the cameras.

However, Tomori slid in on Colombo and Pairetto booked him, the right decision for the foul itself as he did not get anywhere near the ball and brought a man down on the break. Hence, the red was shown.

Tomori protested a lot on the pitch, calling for the intervention of the VAR for offside, with the consequent cancellation of his second yellow. However, the rules do not allow a yellow card to be cancelled.

The VAR team can remove a straight red card by requesting an on-field review, but not a yellow. Even if it was born from an action tainted by offside? Yes, this detail does not impact things.