'Get it right or bin it' - Ex-Premier League referee calls for VAR charges after Everton farce

Former refereeing chief Keith Hackett has called for the balance of power to move back in favour of on-field officials and away from VAR after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s red card farce.

Calvert-Lewin was controversially given his marching orders in Everton’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round earlier this month following a VAR check despite referee Chris Kavanagh not even awarding a free-kick for the striker’s challenge on Nathaniel Clyne in real time. Had the Blues’ appeal against the decision not been successful then their number nine would still be sitting out the third match of his ban in their fourth-round tie against Luton Town today.

In the aftermath of Calvert-Lewin’s sending off, former FIFA-listed referee Hackett, who took charge of Everton’s 1-0 win over Liverpool at Wembley in the 1984 Charity Shield before replacing Philip Don as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, proclaimed on Twitter: “Kavanagh judged it on the field correctly. Then two of his colleagues made him walk the plank!” With the FA overturning the decision following Goodison Park chiefs’ claim of a wrongful dismissal, Hackett remains dismayed with the way the incident played out and the way VAR is being used in general.

He told the ECHO: “I saw the Dominic Calvert-Lewin sending off, there was certainly a bit of speed in it because he’s trying to defend the ball and he goes for it. The referee was in a good position, he’s not seen it as either reckless – which is a yellow card – or red.

I was the Echo Everton reporter when news of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's resignation broke

What Andre Gomes did at Finch Farm may have stopped serious injury as Everton face nervous wait

“Then we suddenly