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Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic’s weekly column that dives into the wildest side of the game. We bring you the absurdities, greed, contradictions, and oddities from clubs, managers, players, and organizations in the sport we all love.
A Clear and Obvious Error from VAR?
VAR decided the Premier League title race and the relegation battle, and everyone reacted with complete calm? Not quite. Headlines screamed “VARcical” and “VARCICAL,” with some outlets going full caps for extra outrage. Even the BBC asked: “Biggest VAR call ever?”
West Ham fans were furious. One fan tweeted stunning footage, claiming Pablo was manhandled by two Arsenal players and lost balance, with Rice dragging Mavropanos into the goal and Todibo receiving waist love. The tweet ended with “It’s an absolute farce I won’t get over.”
The Premier League insists VAR is only used for “clear and obvious errors” or “serious missed incidents.” Yet referee Chris Kavanagh was looking directly at the Pablo–David Raya incident when it happened. The league also says there’s a “high bar for VAR to intervene on subjective decisions” to maintain match pace. But VAR official Darren England took nearly three minutes to review the footage, and Kavanagh spent one minute and 15 seconds at the screen.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb promised at the start of the season that grappling in the box would be clamped down on. But Arsenal conceded zero penalties this season. Clearly, they never grapple, pull, or block opponents in the area.
Infantino’s Hype vs. Cold, Hard Reality
Gianni Infantino is known for understatement? “One month to go! The greatest and most inclusive FIFA World Cup ever kicks off on June 11!”
He cautiously predicted the 2026 edition will be the best ever. But he also called Russia 2018 the best, Qatar 2022 the best, and after Qatar, the best. It seems every tournament is “the best ever.”
Yet tickets are still being sold weeks before the start. In January, FIFA claimed “unprecedented demand” with over 500 million ticket requests. But the tournament has only about 7 million tickets. Should sell out in seconds, right? Infantino added: “In almost 100 years of World Cup history, FIFA sold around 50 million tickets. Now for this World Cup, in four weeks we have the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once. It’s incredible.”
Then in February, FIFA announced all 104 matches were “sold out.” But the reality? Tickets remain available. 
