By Razeen Gutta
The massive refereeing blunder which led to Liverpool’s goal being wrongly ruled out in their 2-1 loss to Spurs on Saturday has rendered an apology from the Premier League’s officiating body.
Only, this time the Reds aren’t in a forgiving mood.
VAR did not overturn the incorrect on-field decision of disallowing Luis Diaz’s first-half goal for offside. The error occurred when the match, which ended 2-1 for Spurs, was still goalless.
The officiating body, PGMOL, apologised shortly after the final whistle, calling the occurrence a “significant human error”.
It marks the 14th occasion they have admitted to making a major mistake during a match since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, yet the mistakes continue on a regular basis.
In a club statement, Liverpool called their explanation “unacceptable” and stated the need for “escalation and resolution” of the matter.
The statement read, inter alia: “Liverpool acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.”
The club has seemingly threatened legal action against the PGMOL, promising to “explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
Liverpool have also contacted the FA to appeal Curtis Jones’ red card from the same game. A verdict on whether or not that will be reversed is expected this week.
Pictured above: Virgil Van Dijk
Image source: @djmc76
