Arsene Wenger calls for VAR after draw at West brom

Arsene Wenger slammed the Premier League for
poor refereeing and scheduling after Arsenal's 1-1
draw at West Brom on Sunday, where Mike Dean
awarded the hosts a controversial late penalty.
Dean pointed to the spot in the 89th minute after
former Gunner Kieran Gibbs hit the ball at Calum
Chambers' arm at point-blank range in the area.
Jay Rodriguez levelled from the spot to cancel
out Arsenal's lucky opener, when Alexis
Sanchez's free kick was deflected into the net by
James McClean.
While Arsenal were far from their best in the
game, Wenger blasted the refereeing standards in
England after the game and said the Premier
League's scheduling was "completely unfair."
Arsenal played Thursday night at Crystal Palace
while West Brom played their previous game two
days earlier on Boxing Day.
"It's disappointing to see that [penalty decision].
But what can you do? We can talk and talk and
talk, it doesn't change anything," Wenger told Sky
Sports. "And anyway, the Premier League doesn't
face the problem.
"Not of the schedule, nor with the referees. I just
would like to remind you that I did fight very hard
with [former Arsenal vice-chairman] David Dean
many years ago that the referees become
professional. But their level, unfortunately, doesn't
go up."
Goalkeeper Petr Cech was also
uncharacteristically angry after the game, having
been booked by Dean for protesting the penalty
decision.
"The player is too close to the ball, he has no
chance to react," Cech told Sky Sports. "That will
never be a penalty. The referee gives this with
two minutes to go, that's why I ask him:
'Why?' ... He could have told me. He just walked
away and gave me a yellow card. I was not rude,
I just asked a question. And I think this
disappoints me even more. ... I expect when I
walk toward a referee with respect and ask him a
question, I would as well like that he answers to
me in a normal way. Not gives me a yellow card
and say nothing."
Wenger added that the result was "difficult to
accept," and again called for video-assisted
replays (VAR) to be introduced in the Premier
League.
"It's time. I don't know why we want to be the
best league in the world and we wait for such a
long time and other leagues use it already,"
Wenger said. "But overall I believe the schedule is
not right. West Brom has five days to prepare for
a game like that, we have three. Chelsea has four
days to prepare the game on Wednesday, we
have three.
"And you can look since the start of the season,
the Premier League has to become serious a little
bit and look at how the schedule is fair or not
fair. On our side it's completely unfair. ... If we
play every day, I have no problem. If the team we
play against has played the day before as well, I
accept it completely. But the way they organise
the schedule cannot be right. It's nothing to do
with top-level sport."