PRO Statement: SKC vs RSL

The Professional Referee Organization today acknowledged an error that occurred in the Sporting Kansas City vs Real Salt Lake game on November 7.

In the 90th minute, a handball offense occurred inside Real Salt Lake’s penalty area; however, the referee did not award a penalty kick in real-time, allowing play to continue.

The video assistant referee (VAR), when checking the play, saw that the ball made contact with Real Salt Lake defender Justen Glad’s right hand, but concluded that the non-awarding of a penalty kick did not reach the threshold of a clear and obvious error, and therefore did not recommend a Video Review to the referee. However, the footage shows clear movement to the ball by the right hand of Glad, in a manner which can reasonably be interpreted as being consistent with a handball offense.

In PRO’s judgement, a Video Review should have been recommended and a penalty kick awarded. PRO considers the decision not to recommend a review to be an error by the VAR.