Ismir Pekmic, the referee, and Timothy Ford, the video assistant referee, came under fire from the Professional Referee Organization when they utilized technology to overturn a decision and give Charlotte their first goal in Atlanta United’s 3-2 loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. Derrick Williams of Atlanta United diverted a Charlotte corner ball toward the goal during the action.
Before the ball had crossed the line, Josh Cohen scurried over and looked to put the ball back into play. At first, the referee declared there was no goal and let play to continue.
The video assistant referee advised the referee to evaluate the play using a monitor on the side of the field as the ball was played down to the other side of the field and went out of bounds. When he did, he determined that Charlotte had scored its first goal because the ball had over the line.
After the game, the referee was questioned about how, in the absence of goal-line technology, it was evident and clear—the requirements that must be fulfilled in order to overturn a call—that his first call of a no-goal was incorrect. In response, he wrote that the VAR had observed an angle that sufficiently demonstrated that the ball had crossed the line in its entirety.
The referee’s initial judgment of a no-goal should have stood, according to a weekly assessment of contentious calls by PRO, which determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a reconsideration. On Saturday, Pekmic and Ford worked MLS games.
