VAR officials were congratulated by unaware referee Simon Hooper after they made the biggest blunder in Premier League history.
VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook incorrectly signalled 'check complete' after seeing that Luis Diaz was well onside during Tottenham vs Liverpool on Saturday – after missing that the linesman had raised his flag. The bombshell audio shows how the mistake was made, with ref Hooper thanking their involvement before the chaos began.
Hooper can be heard saying on the audio: "Well done boys, good process." The replay operator then calls for the VAR duo to pause the fixture – as they insist they cannot do so due to the rules of VAR.
READ MORE: PGMOL release VAR audio of Luis Diaz's goal as fans learn how blunder happened
READ MORE: PGMOL axe blunder referees Darren England and Dan Cook after VAR horror for Liverpool goal
Spotting the comment, although Hooper wasn't to blame for the mistake while trusting his colleagues, a fan said: "Beyond a shambles."
A second added: "The comms is all over the place, it’s not clear enough and can imagine if the ref is hearing all that, he’d be all over the place."
A third posted: "Not the ref’s fault though. He’s reliant on VAR getting it right." A fourth said: "This is insane."
Do you think the game should be replayed? Tell us in the comments section below.
Before Hooper had congratulated his colleagues, they had said: “And stop. Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect.” The replay operator followed up by saying: “Wait, wait, wait, wait. The on-field decision was offside. Are you happy with this?"
Liverpool had called for release of the audio after losing 2-1 at Tottenham with nine men, after being denied a vital opening goal. An updated PGMOL statement was released alongside the audio, which stated: "We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture."
Sky Sports is bringing you 500 live football games to watch, as well access to Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA and more across eight dedicated channels. Sky Sports is the only way to watch all the action this year.
£22 a month
They then concluded: "The VAR and AVAR in question were removed from their remaining fixtures in Match Round 7 in the Premier League and have not been included in the appointments for Match Round 8 this weekend.
"PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments."
Source: Read Full Article
