Gary Lineker fumes over TV innovation following Match of the Day exit – 'Driving me crazy'

Gary Lineker says the increasing influence of referees in football – even away from the pitch – is driving him crazy. The former Match of the Day host has unleashed a hard-hitting rant at what he sees as ‘refereecation’ of the game, including their role in VAR and the media.

Lineker delivered his outburst as he addressed Eberechi Eze’s disallowed goal for Crystal Palace against Chelsea at the weekend. Eze thought he had given Palace the lead after 13 minutes when he lashed in a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area.

However, referee Darren England, after being advised by VAR to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, decided Eagles captain Marc Guehi was too close to Chelsea ’s defensive wall, where he had jostled with Moises Caicedo.

Speaking on his The Rest is Football show, Lineker said: “That rule was brought in, in 2019. I do not understand why. Let me call it the ‘refereecation’ of football. It seems like referees have taken over the game.

“Obviously, they’re important; they play a really important role on the pitch. Now they play an important role off the pitch in terms of VAR, which is way more than we were promised at the start.

“Also, they define the laws, and that never used to be the case. In recent years, that’s what’s happened. Now there’s a law for everything.”

Lineker, who was never booked or sent off in his playing career, then let rip at the recent addition of ex-referees in TV coverage.

Having stepped back from his TV duties within football since the end of last season, the former BBC presenter added: “Even in co-commentary now, every time there’s a foul, we hear a referee chirp up to tell that someone’s just pushed someone, which we’ve just seen for ourselves.

“It’s driving me crazy. I always got on with referees, I never got booked, but I feel like I’d love to get booked now. It’s driving me mad, they’re almost in control of our game. Rant over, sorry!”

Addressing why Eze’s strike had been ruled out, the Premier League said: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to Crystal Palace . Referee announcement: 'After review, away number six is less than one metre away from the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it's an indirect free kick and a disallowed goal'."

The official rule states: “Where three or more defending team players form a 'wall', all attacking team players must remain at least 1m (1yd) from the 'wall' until the ball is in play.

“If, when a free-kick is taken, an attacking team player is less than 1m (1yd) from a 'wall' formed by three or more defending team players, an indirect free-kick is awarded.”