Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton has railed against "injustice" in an extensive attack on VAR after his team were denied a penalty in their 1-1 home draw with Leicester City on Saturday.
Ipswich were leading 1-0 in the 77th minute when Leicester's Fatawu Issahaku crashed into Conor Chaplin inside the penalty area. Referee Tim Robinson allowed play to continue, which resulted in Kalvin Phillips fouling Ricardo Pereira and picking up his second yellow card. The VAR did not intervene to advise a spot kick should be awarded.
It is the latest in a line of frustrations Ipswich have felt with the video assistant, with Ashton saying the day prior to their Premier League clash with Leicester that Howard Webb, PGMOL's chief refereeing officer, would "see my number flashing up a hell of a lot more" to complain about decisions.
Ashton hinted that if the Premier League was to hold another vote on the future of VAR he would vote to scrap it. In June, Wolves tabled a motion on the future of video review system but failed to garner any support, losing 19-1.
"I thought Saturday was a real injustice," Ashton told BBC Suffolk. "Those who know me know I care passionately about this football club and I will give my last breath defending this football club. I made that very, very clear to Howard Webb.
"I live in a world where if I say too much I'll be put on a charge and what I'm going to say to you now is probably beyond that line, but I've tried to be honest and open with this fanbase since the day I joined. So if it's okay with you I'll give you the events as they unfolded on Saturday.
"I actually messaged Howard when we were 1-0 up because I had a sense of the way this was going to go. I've been in this game a long time and I could feel it. It felt there was an injustice coming and I didn't like that. So I messaged him and said 'can we speak directly after the game?' We spoke directly after the game and some of that conversation needs to remain private because I'll end up being on a charge, I'll end up being on a stadium ban, I'll end up being fined.
"None of that worries me, but the context of what I said to him was this. When we were promoted in the summer the Premier League presented to me why we should support retaining VAR. Wolverhampton Wanderers had made a petition for it to be removed. We listened to Wolves, we listened to other clubs and we listened primarily to the Premier League. On the basis of what I was told we supported the Premier League's decision. A key part of that was how high the bar was going to be set for decisions to be overturned and overruled, and at what point VAR was going to get involved in the game.
"If I was asked to make that vote again tomorrow, I can't look you in the eye and say I'd vote the same way because I am still angry and I am still frustrated. As someone who has spent a long time in the Championship, and from what I've now seen first hand [in the Premier League], from an entertainment perspective I believe the game is worse off with VAR."
Ipswich have had three VAR decisions go against them this season -- penalties awarded to Manchester City and Brentford, and a cancelled spot kick against Everton -- and none in their favour. They did have a penalty claim against City, which was ruled by the Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel to be a mistake by the referee, but not to the threshold for a VAR intervention. The KMI panel has yet to judge any VAR decision for or against Ipswich to be a mistake.
"All I ask for with refereeing and VAR is consistency and we have not seen consistency. I do not personally believe, and my colleagues do not believe, that we have seen consistency over the games. Go back to Man City -- penalty at one end, not at the other end. I could go on and on about specific incidences.
"Right now I'm confused. I think as a coaching staff we're confused. The culmination of that 'interesting,' shall we say, conversation with Howard on Saturday night is that we will meet, this week, at Portman Road to discuss it. Because we need answers. We need to understand. I struggle to understand why we weren't awarded a penalty.
"It's a stonewall penalty. So why isn't it checked by VAR? I don't know. I need to have answers for my manager, for my key stakeholders and, more importantly, I need to have answers for the fanbase.
"And as I said, I will give my last breath fighting for this football club. I didn't enjoy Saturday. I felt it was an injustice to everyone in this town and this county. And I want some answers."
While Ashton stopped short of saying there was bias toward the bigger clubs, an accusation which has landed Wolves boss Gary O'Neil in hot water with the Football Association, he did not dismiss it.
"I'd like to see the statistics on that, but it feels that there is a sway towards those larger clubs," he added. "I really hope not. I would hope that over the season that evens out.
"When I sat on the board of the Football League I was involved in numerous committees that involved referees and there are some really good referees. But we've got to get consistency.
"At the moment I don't see that consistency. Some things are checked, some things are not checked. Some things are overruled, some things aren't overruled. I'm sitting in the hotseat and even I don't understand it."