VAR officials temporarily suspended after Liverpool goal error

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Oct 2023 21:59

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited admits that a "significant human error" occurred during the Tottenham-Liverpool match.

Liverpool's Portuguese striker Diogo Jota reacts as he received a red card from referee Simon Hooper during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 30, 2023 (AFP)

The match officials responsible for a failed VAR call that cost Liverpool a goal in their 2-1 loss to Tottenham on Saturday have been suspended from duty for the rest of the Premier League weekend.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the referees' authority, admitted that a "significant human error" meant Luis Diaz's strike, which came with the game tied at 0-0, was not granted by a VAR review after being flagged offside.

VAR official Darren England was due to be the fourth official at Sunday's Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while his assistant VAR Dan Cook was to be an assistant referee for Monday's west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea.

Liverpool, on their part, said the botched VAR decision resulted in "sporting integrity being undermined."

"I never saw a game like this with the most unfair circumstances, crazy decisions," said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

PGMOL chief Howard Webb apologized to Liverpool after the match for the error that ruled out Diaz's strike.

"This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene," the PGMOL said in a statement.

"Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL's admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined," the club's statement read.

"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR."

"It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention."

Liverpool added that they will now explore their options "given the clear need for escalation and resolution."