By Razeen Gutta
Premier League referees have come under fire again after the officiating body (PGMOL) incorrectly ruled out a crucial Liverpool goal in Saturday’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Two red cards for the Reds and a host of fouls and bookings may have made the headlines as Joel Matip’s last minute own goal got Spurs over the line.
But Video Assistant Referee (VAR) officials failed to overturn an offside call for a Luis Diaz first half goal and the consequences could be severe.
Less than an hour after the final whistle, the PGMOL issued an apology for the decision.
“PGMOL acknowledges a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool,” the statement read.
“The goal by 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.”
It has emerged that the VAR officials did not even think that the goal was offside. Their technology correctly found Diaz to be onside – the officials then failed to relay that information to the referee on the pitch.
It is not the first time this season that the officials have made an error, with the incident only further undermining confidence in the use of technology.
On Sunday, they went on to announce that Saturday’s VAR duo have been suspended for the Premier League games taking place on Sunday and Monday.
“Darren England and Dan Cook have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches,” Sunday’s statement read.
“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.”
Liverpool lost the game 2-1 after going down to nine men; and the Reds will have to hope to get back to winning ways in the Europa League on Thursday.
Pictured above: Jurgen Klopp
Image source: @anythinglfc_
