Maddison Says Referees Petrified of Decisions Due to VAR After Penalty Denial

Tottenham midfielder James Maddison said referees are "petrified" to make decisions because of video assistant referee intervention. He made the comment after officials denied a stoppage-time penalty in Monday's 1-1 draw against Leeds United.

Maddison, a substitute, went down under a challenge from Lukas Nmecha. Referee Jarred Gillett and VAR dismissed the penalty appeal. The result left Tottenham two points above the Premier League relegation zone with two games remaining.

The 29-year-old midfielder posted his first appearance of the season after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. On Instagram, he wrote: "For clarity… The small, tiny touch on the ball to change direction came from the outside of my right foot, not Nmecha, and I told the ref that. But the check was over in about 20 seconds. Officials are petrified to make decisions on pitch now because of VAR. We keep fighting. COYS."

Maddison has criticized referees before. In September, he said officials and VAR "had an absolute shocker of a start" to the season. That came after Professional Game Match Officials Limited chief Howard Webb introduced a policy of less VAR intervention in the Premier League.

BBC pundit Alan Shearer has also attacked VAR. He called refereeing standards "the worst we have seen for a long time" and said they are "only getting worse" due to the technology.

Former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock described VAR as the "worst thing that has been introduced to the game." Ex-England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney said technology is draining emotion from football.

Europe's top leagues face a summer meeting with Uefa to discuss VAR use. Uefa head of referees Roberto Rosetti said: "I believe that we forgot the reason why VAR was introduced."