The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for refereeing games in English professional football, has suspended the two VAR officials at the centre of a dispute involving Tottenham and Liverpool. The VAR officials have been changed for upcoming games, according to PGMOL.
Luis Diaz appeared to have given his team the lead against Spurs on Saturday, but a VAR review led to his goal being controversially disallowed for offside.
Later, it was discovered that there had been a misunderstanding between the on-field officials and the VAR personnel that led to the judgement.
The match’s VAR was handled by Darren England, with Dan Cook serving as his deputy.
Responding to the situation, PGMOL apologised to Liverpool and acknowledged that Diaz’s goal had been wrongly disallowed for offside.
“PGMOL acknowledges a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool,’ the statement began.
“The goal was missed, but Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. 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.”
Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp, said, “Does that help? No. We had that situation at the Manchester United game (against Wolves last month)—did they get points for that? No. We will not get points for it today, so it doesn’t help.
“Nobody expects 100 percent right decisions on the field. I think we all thought that when VAR came in, it might make things easier. I don’t know why people are acting under that much pressure. Today, the decision was made really quickly for the goal. It changed the momentum of the game.”
The body responsible for refereeing, however, has suspended the officials responsible for the error.
In a statement, PGMOL have now said: “Darren England and Dan Cook have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches.
“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as 4th official at City Ground, while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant ref at Craven Cottage.”