October 11, (THEWILL) – The chief refereeing officer of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Howard Webb, has revealed the steps the English Premier League referees are taking to prevent a repeat of the VAR blunder that denied Liverpool forward, Luis Diaz, a legitimate goal against Tottenham Hotspur last month.
As THEWILL reported, the Colombian’s clearly onside effort was wrongly disallowed for offside due to an embarrassing communication breakdown between referee Simon Hooper, VAR Darren England and assistant VAR Dan Cook. Liverpool lost the match 2-1, with manager Jurgen Klopp calling for a replay due to the error.
Webb said PGMOL quickly realised it was a “significant human error” and “loss of concentration” that meant the VAR system failed to overturn the incorrect on-field decision. He said officials were disappointed as VAR exists to rectify clear refereeing mistakes.
PGMOL’s response was to examine what happened and implement changes to communication protocols between officials to prevent a repeat. This includes clearly stating decisions between the on-field referee and VAR, and the VAR providing explicit confirmation of any overturned call to avoid confusion.
The incident occurred during a goalless first half at Tottenham. Liverpool had Curtis Jones sent off before Spurs struck through Son Heung-min and Cody Gakpo. Diogo Jota was later dismissed as Joel Matip scored an own goal to seal Spurs’ win.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
