Liverpool asks PGMOL to broadcast the audio of the VAR decision to annul Luis Díaz’s goal against Tottenham | football news

Liverpool have formally requested PGMOL for referee audio from Saturday’s defeat to Spurs after Luis Diaz’s first goal was wrongly disallowed.

Diaz’s goal against Spurs was incorrectly disallowed for offside after a mix-up by VAR official Darren England, described by the PGMOL as a “significant human error”. He and his VAR assistant were removed from their scheduled matches on Sunday.

Liverpool promised on Sunday to “explore the range of options available” to reach a resolution, and have now approached the PGMOL for the raw audio files of conversations between England and their on-field colleagues that led to the goal would be disallowed. .

England and his assistant Dan Cook mistakenly believed that Diaz’s goal was initially allowed to stand and told on-field referee Simon Hooper that his control was complete.

Liverpool’s statement read: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges that the PGMOL admitted its errors last night. It is clear that the laws of the game were not applied correctly, resulting in a breach of sporting integrity.

“We fully accept the pressures that referees 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 given to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.

“That such failures have already been categorized as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all results must be established solely through review and with full transparency.

“This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs and the learnings are used to make process improvements to ensure this type of situation does not occur again.

“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”

According Sky Sports News Melissa Reddy, “There is a strong push for the mandate of the PGMOL review not to be limited solely to the VAR failures themselves and how they happened, but to examine the process of appointing officials, given three of them – two fundamental for the mistake – I worked in the United Arab Emirates 48 hours before the match.

Neville: Liverpool statement ‘a mistake’

sky sports Pundit Gary Neville criticized Liverpool’s response, calling it a “mistake”.

Neville wrote on “Let’s talk about exploring all options (what does that mean?!!!) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases as well as being vague and aggressive. Sorry was enough!! Sorry should be respected and not undervalued.”

Gallagher: I don’t understand Liverpool’s statement

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Ref Watch:

“To be honest, I don’t understand what that means. Seriously, I don’t understand it.

“It was a mistake, referees make mistakes all the time. “It’s Sky Sports News’ 25th birthday – you can find plenty of mine around that time.

“It is a very, very serious mistake, there is no doubt about that, but it is a mistake.”

PGMOL: A major human error occurred

The PGMOL admitted immediately after Tottenham’s 2-1 win that “a significant human error occurred” when Diaz’s goal was disallowed, adding: “This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal was awarded through the intervention of the VAR”.

It was initially believed that VAR Darren England had failed to check whether a Tottenham defender had played with Diaz when drawing the lines on screen.

But, in a remarkable twist, it later emerged that the VAR incorrectly thought the on-field decision was that a goal had been awarded, when in fact it had not been.

This caused England, despite realizing that Diaz was in play, to broadcast a “complete control” message and the goal was disallowed.

Less than 40 seconds passed between Díaz’s shot hitting the back of the net and the resumption of play, while there were less than 10 seconds between viewers being shown that a VAR review was being conducted and it being completed. the verification.

The score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was 0-0 at the time, with Liverpool reduced to 10 players following Curtis Jones’ red card.

Adding insult to injury for Liverpool, Heung-Min Son scored Spurs’ first goal two minutes later, while an injury-time own goal from Joel Matip gave the hosts a 2-1 victory.

On Sunday morning, PGMOL confirmed that both England and Dan Cook, the VAR assistant for the Tottenham vs Liverpool match, had been withdrawn from their upcoming matches.

England was due to be part of the refereeing team at the City Ground on Sunday for Nottingham Forest’s match against Brentford, but was replaced by Craig Pawson.

Cook was due to feature in Fulham’s home game against Chelsea on Monday, live on Sky Sports, but Eddie Smart took his place.

Why didn’t the VAR stop the match?

It is unknown when England and Cook first realized their mistake. Following England’s “full check” message to on-field referee Simon Hooper, the match resumed less than a minute after Diaz scored his goal with a free kick against Tottenham.

With the match ‘live’ again, it is thought that the VAR team felt unable to intervene.

The IFAB rules on the state game of VAR cannot be revoked in a case like this. Rule 10 says: “If play has been stopped and restarted, the referee may not conduct a ‘review’ except in the case of mistaken identity or a possible sending off offense involving violent conduct, spitting, biting or conduct. extremely offensive and insulting. and/or abusive action(s).”

“I’m pretty sure if you look at the referee’s face, they were thinking about taking the game back and calling it a goal,” Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville responded on X.

“There’s a moment where the referee looks sick! On the porch (can’t see this at home) the VAR screen was locked on the offside decision while the game was going on. They knew almost immediately, but for some reason I can’t go back or I can’t go back through rules!”

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher added: “It’s a horrendous mistake, no matter how they did it. But if they knew right after the Spurs free-kick that they had made a huge mistake, it’s silly that they can’t get it back.” . back just because a free kick was taken.

PGMOL faces doubts over its trip to the United Arab Emirates

Melissa Reddy, senior reporter at Sky Sports:

Refereeing body PGMOL is facing growing doubts over the wisdom of allowing England and Cook to work in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

England was the VAR and Cook was the second assistant referee in Al Ain’s victory over Sharjah, which took place just 48 hours before the Tottenham vs Liverpool match.

Michael Oliver, who was the fourth official in north London, was the match referee in the United Arab Emirates.

Sky Sports News It has been reported that an approach was made to the FA for the use of the trio and was subsequently approved, without affecting their availability to be selected for Premier League matches.

It is understood that Howard Webb, director of PGMOL, authorized the trip.

The referees returned to London on Friday to prepare for VAR and fourth official duties, which PGMOL says is routine for those who have had midweek international fixtures.

However, there has been criticism of the referees’ workload and questions about whether it could lead to fatigue, especially as England and Cook had one more game to work on this weekend before being eliminated for their error.