Fans will have to wait a little longer
A date for when fans will be able to hear the audio of the VAR officials working on Tottenham’s game against Liverpool has been confirmed.
Darren England and Dan Cook incorrectly ruled out Luiz Diaz’s first half effort after he was clearly played onside by the leg of Cristian Romero.
Shortly after the time of the incident, VAR official England and assistant Cook then realised they had made a mistake but did not choose to reverse their decision once again.
This has outraged Liverpool, who have sent a request to the PGMOL asking for the audio of the incident after the referees’ governing body apologised for the mistake, citing “human error” as the reason.
‘We’ve all made mistakes. But this is a horrendous mistake’
Jamie Carragher was the latest to criticise VAR on Monday Night Football and said that football is at a “crisis point with VAR”.
Carragher explained: “I don’t think the feeling about VAR has been lower, it’s at crisis point. It’s not just this decision it’s on the back of other incidents this season, like the Wolves one with Manchester United on Monday Night Football.
“I don’t want to pile into the officials or Howard Webb, they must feel awful. I’m not into the conspiracy theories – no-one gains anything from this.
“We’ve all made mistakes. But this is a horrendous mistake, unprecedented, you can’t quite believe the explanation that has been given.”
"I do feel like this is a crisis point for VAR" @Carra23 gives his honest opinion on the controversial decision to disallow Luis Díaz's goal against Tottenham 👇 pic.twitter.com/TZoXdsS34z
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 2, 2023
He added: “They were saying they were staying with protocol about not allowing to stop the game. I don’t believe that. They panicked. They froze. I know that’s the rule but that’s a red tap rule. If they had reversed it, we’d have been praising their leadership.
“There’s talk that the officials didn’t know until half time that a mistake had been made, when that ball goes out of play [after the incident] the look on that referees face it’s a look of something has gone wrong. I think it’s unbelievable that all the parties involved haven’t released the audio. I find it unfathomable.
“The only way Howard Webb and PGMOL will gain any sort of credibility back was to get it out there. The problem they have now is the explanation is so random and bizarre, the longer this goes on, the more people will think they’re trying to put a story together.”
Liverpool to receive VAR audio
According to The Sun, Liverpool are now going to be given the audio of the conversation between the two VAR officials from Saturday’s game but fans may have to wait until next week to hear it.
It is likely that the audio will be shown on Howard Webb’s show: ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ – a monthly show which looks back at some of the most contentious decisions involving VAR on Monday night however it could be earlier if Premier League bosses want it to be released at an earlier date.
England and Cook meanwhile have been dropped from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures while a review conducted by the PGMOL is expected to order a change in the language used by VARs in a bid to ensure there are no repeats.
Related links:
- VAR duo axed from PL games this weekend after Luis Diaz offside error
- Classy Jurgen Klopp accepts VAR mistake
- Jamie Carragher says the feeling about VAR has ‘never been lower’
