“The Premier League should be furious with such a decision. I mean even if the referee made such a stupid mistake his assistant should be able to correct it. My verdict would be the suspension of such incompetent officials” – Alan Shearer fumed over Bruno Fernandes’ “diabolical” red card and then went on a rant about VAR.

Alan Shearer voiced his frustration with how VAR has impacted the Premier League this season, particularly following Bruno Fernandes’ red card during Manchester United’s match against Tottenham last weekend.

Alan Shearer slammed VAR’s handling of Bruno Fernandes’ red card as “diabolical.” The Manchester United midfielder was sent off by Chris Kavanagh in the 42nd minute of United’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham after a challenge on James Maddison.

Fernandes slipped during the tackle, with his heel hitting Maddison’s shin, which left many questioning if the red card was justified and why VAR didn’t intervene.

On *The Rest Is Football* podcast, Gary Lineker asked Shearer about VAR’s role, to which Shearer angrily replied, calling it “a diabolical decision.” He criticized both the referee and the assistant for not correcting the error.

Shearer expressed his frustration with the VAR team, saying, “And for the two in the VAR room to look at it… what’s going through their heads? I honestly can’t figure it out! How can you get that so wrong?” Lineker then noted how the bar for overturning decisions is set extremely high this season, with officials favoring the referee’s initial call.

He proposed an appeals system, allowing teams to challenge a limited number of decisions per game, with an independent review to judge whether it’s a foul or not, without worrying about the high bar.

However, Shearer questioned Lineker’s idea, asking, “Are you appealing to the same people who made the initial decision? The ones who reviewed the footage two or three times and still didn’t send the referee to the screen because they thought it was a red? Are you appealing to those same people?”

Dejan Kulusevski extended Tottenham’s lead just two minutes into the second half, and Dominic Solanke secured the victory with 13 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Bruno Fernandes also received a red card during Manchester United’s 3-3 Europa League draw against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão on Thursday night.

Fernandes, 30, was initially booked for a high boot early in the game and then received a second yellow in the 82nd minute. As Alejandro Garnacho crossed the ball into Porto’s box, Fernandes stretched to convert it, but Nehuen Perez got his head to the ball first, resulting in Fernandes committing a second high-foot offence and earning a red card.