VAR operators are SCARED of Michael Oliver and 'back off' during key decisions

Richard Keys has sensationally claimed that VAR operators are scared of Michael Oliver and simply rubberstamp the official's decisions because they are 'scared'.

Oliver was embroiled in controversy during Liverpool's 4-1 victory against Brentford at the weekend, having waved away penalty appeals from Ivan Toney after he received a shove in the back from Andy Robertson inside the box.

The experienced referee waved play on and his decision stood after a VAR check.

Keys, however, believes Brentford were unfortunate not to have been awarded the spot-kick in the second half and alleged the decision was made out of fear of Oliver.

'Brentford should have had a penalty,' Keys wrote in his latest blog post. 'Robertson knew it was a penalty. You can see that by the way he limply kicks the ball away after clattering Toney. The only person that didn't think it was a pen was Michael Oliver.

'What has happened to VAR? David Coote [VAR official] went missing because he knows that Oliver is never going to accept someone he regards as inferior sending him to a monitor. Operators are scared of Oliver so they back off.

'We know this because Mike Dean admitted as much early in the season. Refs help their mates out and duck controversy.'

Dean, a long-standing Premier League referee that stepped away from duties after 22 years, previously conceded he had failed to correct a mistake during a match between Chelsea and Tottenham to prevent Anthony Taylor receiving extra 'grief'.

While on VAR duty at Stamford Bridge in August 2022, Chelsea urged Taylor to send off Cristian Romero for pulling Marc Cucurella to the floor by his hair. Dean later said he had made a 'really bad call' in not sending the official to review the decision.

'I missed the stupid