PGMOL replaces Darren England as fourth referee over Hotspurs-Liverpool game error
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| Right: Darren England. Credit: The Sun |
Darren England made a mistake when serving as the video assistant referee during Liverpool's loss at Tottenham, he has been replaced as the fourth official for Sunday's Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
The Reds were defeated 2-1 on Saturday when England failed to overcome an inaccurate on-field judgment to disallow a Luis Diaz goal for offside.
Dan Cook, who served as the match's assistant VAR, has been replaced as the assistant referee for Monday's match between Fulham and Chelsea, the BBC reported.
"Craig Pawson will now assume England's duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage," said referees' body PGMOL.
After a brief VAR scan in which the normal offside line graphic was not visible, England upheld the verdict that winger Diaz's goal was illegal at 0-0 and with Liverpool down to 10 men.
BBC Sport is aware that the proper protocol was followed for the contentious decision, but a human error led to the error.
According to protocol, the lines were drawn, and every other element was examined.
The initial on-field decision was lost in what is being characterized by sources as a lack in concentration, and a 'check complete' was confirmed rather than an intervention that would have resulted in the goal being awarded.
A PGMOL statement after the game said "a significant human error occurred".
It added: "The goal by Luiz 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."
Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side's defeat came in "the most unfair circumstances" with "crazy decisions".
"That is not offside when you see it," he told Sky Sports.
"The ball is between Mo [Salah]'s legs, they drew the line wrong and didn't judge the moment when Mo passed the ball right."
Klopp also said the PGMOL statement "doesn't help" and referenced the apology Wolves received for the decision not to award a penalty at Manchester United earlier in the season.
Former England striker Alan Shearer described VAR's error as "incomprehensible" on BBC Match of the Day.
"The one bit of VAR we have accepted and learned we can't argue about was offside," he said.
"This will put so much doubt into decisions that go on. It is a monumental error. We spotted it straight away." - BBC
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