Bizarre VAR? Why Kelly’s second yellow card became ‘awful’ straight red

The sight of a referee being sent to the pitchside monitor to overturn a decision by the video assistant referee (VAR) is one we have all become used to.

So when Joao Pinheiro, who had just shown Lloyd Kelly a second yellow card for a foul on Baris Yilmaz, drew the familiar invisible box in the air before trotting to the sidelines, the sound of cheers suggested some Juventus supporters inside their home Allianz Stadium had renewed hope.

The decision in the knockout round play-off second-leg tie with Galatasaray was, indeed, overturned.

However, the problem for the former Bournemouth and Newcastle defender was that instead of his second yellow card being chalked off, it was upgraded to a straight red card.

The 27-year-old Kelly was furious with the 49th-minute decision, booting a wall in the tunnel on his exit, while manager Luciano Spalletti wore a perplexed look on the sidelines.

Juventus were 1-0 in front at that stage as they sought to overturn a 5-2 first-leg deficit to their Turkish opponents.

In the Champions League, the VAR will only check for clear and obvious errors relating to goals, incidents in the penalty area, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identity.

At present, it will not intervene on yellow cards – so downgrading Kelly’s initial dismissal for a second bookable offence was never VAR’s intention.

However, the principles above apply only when VAR is deciding to send the referee to the monitor. Once the match official begins the review, they are in charge and can take whatever decision they deem appropriate.

Make sense?

Incidentally, football’s lawmakers the International Football Association Board (Ifab) are expected to approve VAR reviews for wrongly awarded second yellow cards at its annual general meeting on Saturday.

Former Premier League defender Curtis Davies said the decision was an “absolute disgrace”.

“Kelly goes up for a header, he’s gone for the header cleanly. His feet have to land on the ground somewhere,” he added on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Unfortunately, he lands on the player. There needs to be a level of understanding – where is he meant to put his feet? I understand Kelly’s frustration.”

Davies’ sentiments were echoed by football journalist Rory Smith, who called the decision “awful” and a “disgrace”.

Meanwhile, former Tottenham midfielder Andy Reid felt football was “moving closer and closer to being a non-contact sport”.

“There needs to be contact in football and sometimes people do get painful ones. It happens. There’s nothing you can do about that. It’s part of the game,” he said.

According to Uefa rules, any player sent off by the referee – whether that is via two yellows or a straight red – is automatically suspended for the next match in European club competition.

However, in light of Juventus’ exit from the Champions League, Kelly’s suspension will carry over to next season.

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha added: “If I was Kelly I’d be really disappointed, but with how football works, it’s always going to be a red.”

But former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock disagreed.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.