Why does VAR intervene in some penalties and not others?

If Doku gets a penalty, what’s the difference between Byrne’s challenge on Ouattara, which was not given and meaning the Brentford player was booked for diving?

It comes down to ‘calling the score’ and the directive asking VAR to consider the attacker’s motives and how he fell to the ground.

Dooku fell in a predictable manner from the contact, but Wataru threw himself to the ground theatrically. This is counted against the striker in the VAR review.

We can look at the penalty awarded to Arsenal against Leeds by the on-field referee in August when Anton Stach touched Max Doman’s foot.

The Premier League’s Key Match Events (KMI) panel voted 3-2 that it should not have been a penalty kick, stating: “There was a slight contact made by Stach on Doman’s toe, with the significance and impact of the contact discussed by the panel. The panel considered that the referee’s call for a penalty kick was incorrect (but) unanimously agreed that the VAR was right not to intervene.”

The wording is part of the reason why fans can’t fully buy into VAR. Was Stach’s decision a mistake? Yes, but not enough to correct it.

Fundamentally, Ouattara and Dauman are very similar, so the KMI panel is unlikely to feel it was wrong not to award a penalty on the pitch.

Byrne conceded a penalty later in the second half when he kicked Ouattara’s boot (you can see that in the replay) as he moved inside the area. While the contact was minor, it was present, and led to him receiving a second yellow card as well.