Liverpool have released a statement slamming the VAR error that resulted in Luis Diaz having a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside against Tottenham and say they will now ‘explore a range of options’.
The Merseysiders were reduced to 10 men in north London on Saturday when Curtis Jones saw his challenge upgraded to a red card by referee Simon Hooper after an intervention from VAR.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Liverpool thought they had taken the lead when Mohamed Salah slipped in Diaz and the Colombian rifled into the far corner.
Unfortunately the linesman’s flag was raised for offside and after a brief check by VAR the game restarted with a free-kick to Tottenham.
However, it quickly became clear that an error had been made with Diaz clearly onside and refereeing body PGMOL released a statement after the match confirming that a ‘significant human error’ had occurred.
Spurs went on to win the match 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip, with Diogo Jota also sent off in the second half after two yellow cards as the visitors were reduced to nine men.
It later transpired that VAR official Darren England mistakenly thought the on-field decision had been a goal so, after confirming that Diaz was onside, said ‘check complete’ to the on-field team – which they interpreted as meaning the goal had been offside.
While Liverpool appreciate PGMOL coming clean about the embarrassing mix-up, they have hit out at the usage of VAR and lack of intervention following the restart and say they will now explore options to ‘escalate and resolve’ the matter.
A statement on Sunday evening read: ‘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.
‘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.
‘That such failings have already been categorised as “significant human error” is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
‘This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
‘In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.’
Both the VAR and assistant VAR from Saturday’s game, Darren England and Dan Cook respectively, have been stood down by PGMOL following their blunder; the former was removed as fourth official for Sunday’s clash between Nottingham Forest and Brentford while the latter was removed as assistant referee for Fulham vs Chelsea on Monday night.
MORE : Alexis Mac Allister aims dig at Cristian Romero after Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham
MORE : PGMOL takes action with two officials after VAR error in Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham
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