Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said VAR is damaging football after watching his team denied a dramatic late winner at Aston Villa on Saturday night.
The Blues fought back from a two-goal deficit at the break to level in the second half and thought they had scored a late winner through an Axel Disasi header. However, a video assistant referee review deemed that Benoit Badiashile had fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up so the points were shared at Villa Park.
"Me and you and everyone in the stadium watching the game, they didn't see a foul on the pitch and then VAR changed the decision of the referee. For me that was a normal challenge. The decision was there and that's it," Pochettino told broadcaster TNT following the 2-2 draw.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept," Pochettino said. "They didn't see a foul on the pitch and then VAR changed the decision of the referee. For me that was a normal challenge.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football. Villa's players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"For me it damaged a little bit the Premier League. If we want to be the best league in the world it should be protecting the spectacle and the decision."
Pochettino's side trailed to Marc Cucurella's early own goal and a Morgan Rogers strike before half-time at Villa Park.
Rather than capitulate as they did in Tuesday's humiliating 5-0 loss at Arsenal, Chelsea dug deep to rescue a gritty point thanks to goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher.
It could have been even better than the visitors. From a Cole Palmer corner, Badiashile hooked the ball back into the middle of the penalty area for an unmarked Disasi to head in from close range. However, VAR requested referee Craig Pawson to check the goal after the French defender barged Carlos off the ball before his cross to Disasi, and it the goal was subsequently ruled out.
The draw was a blow to Villa's hopes of holding off Tottenham in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.
Villa are seven points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, who host Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday in the first of three games in hand on Unai Emery's side.
Although Villa, who last finished as high as fourth in 1995-96, remain favourites to clinch the lucrative Champions League berth, they might feel a little nervous if Tottenham win the north London derby on Sunday.
"We wanted to play Europa League last year and now we have a new challenge which is to play Champions League," Emery said. "Chelsea today showed the power. But to draw at the end is a very good result. I want more, of course."
The under-fire Pochettino reportedly retains the backing of Chelsea's ninth-placed squad, which has been assembled for over £1 billion, despite a difficult campaign that included an FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City last weekend.
They proved that point by refusing to surrender against a Villa team that flew at them in a vibrant start.
In the fourth minute, Lucas Digne poked a low cross into the Chelsea six-yard box, where John McGinn's scuffed shot was deflected into his own net by Cucurella.
But Villa's momentum had stalled and they suffered a setback when Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans limped off injured.
Nicolas Jackson was inches away from equalising with a close-range header from Cucurella's cross that glanced off the post. The much-maligned striker should have buried that chance and Ollie Watkins almost made him pay with a powerful drive that Djordje Petrovic saved at his near post.
It was a warning Chelsea failed to heed as Rogers doubled Villa's advantage in the 41st minute.
Matty Cash's pass picked out Rogers and the 21-year-old, given too much time and space on the edge of the area, swept a perfectly-placed strike past Petrovic for his third goal since his January arrival from Middlesbrough.
Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez was forced off with an injury at half-time and his replacement Olsen had to pick the ball out of the net in the 62nd minute.
Pau Torres carelessly lost possession, with Gallagher's touch reaching Madueke, who slotted a fine finish past the Swedish keeper from 10 yards.
Madueke almost completed Chelsea's fightback, but his flicked effort was parried by Olsen.
The winger wasn't left to rue that miss as Gallagher rescued a deserved point for Chelsea in the 81st minute with a superb curler into the far corner from the edge of the area.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)
Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)
Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)
Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)
Jurassic%20Park
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
