FACT CHECK: Did Wenger say Man United would be mid-table with video replays?

A 2005 comment by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger about Manchester United and video replays has resurfaced amid renewed discussions about the use of technology in football. The remark, made during Wenger’s long-running war of words with then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has since been widely referenced in debates about VAR.

PUNCH Online examines the original reports, the circumstances surrounding the comment and the subsequent development of video technology in football.

Verdict: True — but the comment was about video replays, not VAR.

The claim that former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said Manchester United would be a mid-table club if officials had the benefit of video replays is true.

Wenger made the remark in January 2005, during a bitter public dispute with then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

However, references to the modern Video Assistant Referee system in describing Wenger’s statement require context because VAR was not in use in English football at the time.

What did Wenger say?

Wenger’s comment came after Ferguson had criticised his conduct following Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford in October 2004.

In its report, “Wenger aims new blast at Ferguson,” the BBC said Wenger had turned a discussion about video replays into another criticism of Manchester United.

The BBC quoted Wenger as saying: “We need to introduce video replays as quickly as possible.”

He then added: “If you take the example of Manchester United, they would be in mid-table now if officials had the benefit of video replays.”

The BBC said Wenger was referring to Tottenham’s goal against Manchester United earlier in January, when Pedro Mendes’ shot clearly crossed the line but was not seen by the referee.

The Guardian also reported the remark in its account of the dispute, quoting Wenger as saying: “We need video replays. United would be mid-table if officials had the benefit of them.”

The Guardian reported that Wenger’s comments were a jibe at United’s “lucky escape” against Tottenham, when Spurs were denied a clear-cut goal that appeared to have crossed the line.

Did The Guardian mention Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run?

Yes.

The Guardian’s report placed the Wenger-Ferguson dispute in the context of Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal on October 24, 2004.

It noted that the match was the game in which “Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten league run came to an end.”

Ferguson had accused Wenger of confronting him after that match, while Wenger subsequently criticised Ferguson and called for the Football Association to consider disciplinary action.

The 49-match run is therefore part of the background to the feud, rather than the immediate incident that prompted Wenger’s video-replay comment.

The distinction is important.

The sequence was:

• October 24, 2004: Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0, ending Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten Premier League run.
• January 2005: Tottenham’s Pedro Mendes had a shot that crossed the Manchester United goal line but was not awarded.
• January 2005: Wenger used the incident while arguing for video replays, saying United would be mid-table if officials had access to them.
• January 2005: The Wenger-Ferguson dispute continued, with both managers exchanging accusations and criticism.

What was the Pedro Mendes incident?

The incident Wenger referred to occurred during Manchester United’s Premier League match against Tottenham.

Mendes attempted a long-range shot which Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll appeared to have gathered, but the ball had crossed the goal line before he recovered it.

The goal was not awarded.

The incident became one of the most prominent arguments at the time for the introduction of technology to assist match officials.

It was against that backdrop that Wenger argued for video replays and used Manchester United as an example of how incorrect decisions could affect the league table.

Did Wenger say Manchester United would become a mid-table club?

Not exactly.

Wenger’s statement was conditional.

He said: “United would be mid-table if officials had the benefit of them.”

He was arguing that Manchester United’s position in the table would have been different if officials had been able to use video replays to correct decisions.

He was not making a prediction that United would eventually become a mid-table club.

That distinction matters when the quotation is presented on social media or in later discussions about VAR.

Was Wenger talking about VAR?

No.

Wenger was talking about video replays.

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The term and system now known as Video Assistant Referee, or VAR, had not yet been introduced into top-level football when Wenger made the comment in 2005.

VAR allows a video match official to review certain potentially match-changing incidents and advise the on-field referee.

The technology and protocol were developed many years after Wenger’s comments.

When was VAR introduced in football?

VAR trials began much later.

The International Football Association Board approved the use of VAR in its Laws of the Game in 2018, following trials in different competitions.

VAR was subsequently used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, one of the first major global tournaments to employ the system.

The Premier League followed the following season.

When did the Premier League introduce VAR?

The Premier League introduced VAR at the start of the 2019/20 season.

Premier League clubs voted unanimously in November 2018 to introduce the technology from the 2019/20 campaign, following testing during the previous season.

That means Wenger’s January 2005 comment came more than 14 years before VAR was introduced in the Premier League.

He therefore could not have been referring to the Premier League’s current VAR system when he made the statement.

What happened to Manchester United after VAR arrived?

There is an interesting historical footnote.

Manchester United’s most recent Premier League title came in the 2012/13 season, under Ferguson.

VAR was introduced into the Premier League in 2019/20.

Since then, Manchester United have not won another Premier League title.

The club’s last Premier League championship therefore came six seasons before the technology was introduced into the English top flight.

This does not, however, prove Wenger’s 2005 argument. His statement concerned the possible effect of correcting refereeing decisions in a particular period and was not a prediction about Manchester United’s long-term performance.

Context: Would video replays replace VAR?

No. Video replays, as Wenger referred to them in 2005, would not necessarily mean the same thing as VAR as it is used today.

Wenger was calling for officials to have access to video replays to help them make decisions. Modern VAR is a more structured system in which a video assistant referee reviews specific incidents and can recommend that the on-field referee review or change a decision.

The two ideas share the same basic principle — using video evidence to reduce major officiating errors — but they are not identical in their operation.

In 2005, the debate was largely about whether referees should be allowed to consult video evidence, particularly in incidents such as Pedro Mendes’ shot against Manchester United.

VAR, meanwhile, operates under protocols established by the International Football Association Board and is limited to specific categories of potentially match-changing incidents.

So, while Wenger’s call for video replays can be viewed as part of the wider debate that eventually led football towards technologies such as VAR, it would be inaccurate to suggest that he was describing the modern VAR system in 2005.

Verdict

TRUE, with context.

Wenger did say Manchester United would be “mid-table” if officials had the benefit of video replays. Both the BBC and The Guardian reported the remark in January 2005.

The comment was made in the aftermath of the controversial Pedro Mendes goal-line incident involving Manchester United and Tottenham.

The wider dispute between Wenger and Ferguson also followed Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal in October 2004, which ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten league run.

However, describing Wenger’s original comment as a prediction about VAR would be inaccurate.

Wenger spoke about video replays, while VAR was not introduced into the Premier League until the 2019/20 season.

Since VAR’s Premier League introduction, Manchester United have yet to win another Premier League title.

Their most recent league championship remains the 2012/13 title under Ferguson.