A HILARIOUS video shows the moment a man is sent off from a club dancefloor by his mates – dressed as a VAR monitor.
Sam Thompson from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne had attended a ‘Back to the 2000s’ event at Butlins in Skegness, Lincolnshire on Saturday.
The 23-year-old had attended the event with friends Connor Splotts, Samantha Hartley, Ian Hoy and Raul Coats in a host of different costumes – including the VAR monitor and a referee.
The video begins with Connor, dressed as Duffman from The Simpsons, seemingly getting too close to Samantha and shouting at her as Pretty Green Eyes plays over the speakers.
Immediately pal Ian rushes over to get between the pair while dressed as a Premier League referee and reaches into his wallet to issue a yellow card to the overenthusiastic Connor.
However, despite the caution it seems that all may not be well as Ian puts his hand to his ear in an apparent communication with his ‘video assistant’.
The 22-year-old then makes the now famous ‘TV screen’ hand gesture for the Virtual Assistant Referee and turns to Raul – who is also dressed as a referee carrying a VAR monitor.
Ian leans down and looks at a still image on the screen carried by Raul of the Premier League’s purple VAR system.
The pair exchange a knowing glance and it seems Duffman’s fate is sealed as the referee returns from the monitor and puts his finger back to his ear to confirm the decision.
Ian shows the yellow and waves his hand to chalk it off before brandishing the red card to send Duffman for an early bath despite his protestations.
Sam shared the hilarious video to social media on Monday with the simple caption: “Skegness Butlins.”
The clip has attracted more than 47,000 likes and hundreds of comments from amused social media users.
One said: “The timing of the screen coming in, incredible.”
Another added: “They say VAR isn’t useful.”
A third replied: “Better than the real VAR.”
Another commented: “That’s class.”
Speaking today, Sam said: “We spent the weekend in Butlins Skegness at a ‘Back to the 2000s’ event.
“We all had wanted to dress up and we planned out the costume.
“Originally we were going to have Connor slide tackle Samantha but we decided to make it easier by having him pretend to shout.
“This then made it easier for the VAR lads to step in [and send him off].
“Everyone loved it, other people were getting involved all night.
“I’ve not really seen anyone dress up in those costumes before so [we thought] it was a really good idea – we’re off on a few holidays this year and we’ll be wearing the same costumes wherever we go.”
VAR was introduced into the Premier League in the 2019/2020 season and has faced severe criticism from players, pundits and fans since its inception.
Controversial decisions arise from the use of VAR in games on an almost weekly basis, with concerns arising that the technology causes more problems than it solves.
