Tottenham picked up a 2-1 win against Liverpool on Saturday afternoon in a game full of controversy after Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal was incorrectly deemed to be offside
Premier League make major VAR decision for Chelsea game after Tottenham vs Liverpool mistake (Image: (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images))
The Premier League have decided the take both VAR officials – who were at fault during Tottenham’s win against Liverpool – off duty for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea fixtures today and tomorrow night. It has been revealed why neither the on-field referee, Simon Hooper, or VAR official, Darren England, corrected their mistake of adjudging Luis Diaz as offside during Tottenham’s clash against Liverpool.
Just after the half-four mark, the 26-year-old winger thought he had put the Reds ahead following a great pass from Mohamed Salah. Through on goal, the Colombia international fizzed a strike past Guglielmo Vicario and, as he wheeled away in celebration, the linesman flagged for offside.
Diaz’s goal against Spurs was ruled out and falsely adjudged to be offside – despite images clearly showing Micky van de Ven had played the Liverpool star onside. Later on Saturday evening the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) released a statement admitting to ‘significant human error’.
“PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool,” the apology 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. PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error. PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”.
Now, Darren England, who was on VAR duty for the Spurs fixture on Saturday, and Dan Cook, who was assistant VAR on the same game, have both been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night. It comes after ESPN journalist Dale Johnson revealed what actually happened behind the scenes during the VAR review of Diaz’s goal.
Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – to report on the story, he wrote: “So the VAR, Darren England, checked offside thinking the onfield decision was ‘goal’. It was a quick offside check because it was clear Diaz was onside, so he told the referee ‘check complete’.
“In telling the ref ‘check complete’ he is saying the onfield decision was correct. So the ‘human error’ by the VAR team is getting the onfield decision wrong.
“Not by failing to draw lines etc. The lines were drawn and Diaz was clearly onside. The huge, quite unbelievable error was misunderstanding the onfield decision.
“As soon as Spurs take the free-kick for the offside, which they were set up for, the decision cannot be rolled back. Can only imagine the VAR room when that free-kick was taken….”.
Chelsea WhatsApp
Sign up to our Chelsea WhatsApp service and get all the latest breaking news and in-depth stories from football.london’s dedicated Chelsea writers direct to your phone.
By signing up to this free service you will be the first to know the news from Stamford Bridge as it happens.
To join our Chelsea community, all you have to do is .
About The Author
