The audio that led to English Premier League star Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in Liverpool’s defeat at Tottenham has been released publicly by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited.
VAR Darren England and his assistant Daniel Cook did not over-rule the incorrect on-field decision of offside, leading to referee Simon Hooper restarting Saturday’s Premier League fixture with Spurs in possession and the match still goal-less. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Audio of EPL’s botched VAR decision released.
In the audio England can be heard saying to Hooper: “Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect.”
After the game resumes, the replay operator says: “Wait, wait, wait, wait. The on-field decision was offside. Are you happy with this?”
As the mistake dawns on England, he swears.
An official at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which administers officials in the league, then asks for a delay but England says: “Can’t do anything.”
He adds: “They’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything.” Then he swears again.
“We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture,” PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio.
It added it had made “key learnings to mitigate against the risk of a future error”.
“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR),” PGMOL said.
PGMOL said a new VAR Communication Protocol would be developed to improve communication between the referee and the VAR team.
The VAR will also have to confirm the outcome of its check with the assistant VAR before informing on-field officials of the final decision.
The PGMOL also said it would reiterate the speed of decision-making must not be at the expense of accuracy.
Liverpool are also understood to be appealing against a straight red card shown to Curtis Jones earlier in the match.
Diogo Jota was also sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence.
England and his assistant VAR, Daniel Cook, have not been selected for Premier League matches this weekend following the Diaz incident.
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