The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) are under a lot of scrutiny at the moment. Their error in the game between Liverpool and Tottenham has been the talk of the town. They controversy now has taken a new turn after PGMOL released VAR audio regarding their blunder of Diaz’s goal. According to audio recordings made public on Tuesday night, VAR officials froze under pressure as a result of their own errors. Luis Diaz’s goal was controversially and incorrectly disallowed during Liverpool’s defeat at Tottenham on Saturday.
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PGMOL under fire after error
Due to a colossal VAR error, Stockley Park officials incorrectly believed the on-field ruling to be “goal,” meaning they claimed the check was over and the player was clearly onside. As a result, Liverpool’s Colombian winger’s goal was disallowed for offside.
The Reds formally requested the recording on Monday. Their request was granted on Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, the referee’s organisation, PGMOL made the audio recordings available to the public. This demonstrated that officials were aware of their significant error right away but chose not to stop the game.
The audio shows a major slip in VAR’s focus as well as a breakdown in communication amongst those concerned. Former rugby league referee and TMO Phil Bentham was formerly employed by the PGMOL to ensure that their statements are precise and succinct. But it’s anticipated that this unfortunate incident would result in more VAR training.
Liverpool is still considering its options in the wake of the enormous injustice that ended their season-long winning streak. Many club members remain indignant at the choice, and with good reason. This isn’t the first time that PGMOL have been under fire.
Officials can be heard saying “perfect” and “well done boys, good process” shortly after the game resumed. Standards “fell short of expectations,” according to a statement from the PGMOL, which has identified three significant areas ‘to mitigate against the risk of a future error’.
A Premier League spokesperson on Tuesday night added, ‘It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.’
VAR transcript released
The transcript of the goal between Liverpool and Tottenham has been released by PGMOL. The transcript goes as follows –
VAR: ‘And stop. Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect.’
Assistant referee 1: ‘Playing.’
Referee: ‘Cheers mate.’
VAR: ‘Thank you mate.’
Referee: ‘Well done boys, good process.’
Replay operator: ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. The on-field decision was offside.. Are you happy with this?’
Assistant VAR (Dan Cook): ‘Yeah.’
Replay operator: ‘Are you happy with this?’
Assistant VAR: ‘Offside, goal, yeah. That’s wrong that, Daz.’
VAR: ‘What?’
Replay operator: ‘On-field decision was offside. Are you happy with this image? Yeah, it is onside. The image that we gave them is onside.’
Assistant VAR: ‘He’s playing him, he’s gone offside.
VAR: ‘Oh f***’
Replay operator: ‘Delay, delay. Oli (Kohout, PGMOL Hub Ops) saying to delay, Oli’s saying to delay.’
VAR: ‘Pardon?’
Replay operator: ‘Oli’s calling in to say delay the game. The decision is onside.’
VAR: ‘Can’t do anything.’
Replay operator: Oli’s saying to delay, Oli’s saying to delay.’
VAR: ‘Oli?’
Fourth official: ‘Yeah.’
Replay operator: ‘Delay the game, to delay the game? Stop the game.’
VAR: ‘They’ve started the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything.’
Assistant VAR: ‘Yeah they’ve restarted. Yeah. No.’
VAR: ‘I can’t do anything. I can’t do anything. F***.’
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No punishment for Howard Webb
According to Mail Sport, PGMOL CEO Howard Webb plans to head to the Netherlands this week to work sporadically for UEFA in order to get away from the maelstrom. On Thursday, Webb will serve as an observer for the Europa Conference League match between Alkmaar and Legia Warsaw.
Due to their error, both England and Cook have been removed from this weekend’s schedule of games. Referee Simon Hooper will serve as VAR for Saturday’s match between Everton and Bournemouth.
