Tottenham‘s clash against Liverpool should have been stopped as soon as officials realised that Luis Diaz‘s first half strike was wrongly disallowed, according to reports.
Liverpool were left furious after their 2-1 loss to Ange Postecoglou‘s side was marred by a series of controversial calls, namely the decision to chalk off Diaz’s goal, with a major mix-up seeing VAR failing to intervene over the offside call because they thought the Colombian’s strike had been awarded.
Just seconds after the goal was disallowed and Spurs took a resulting free kick, officials became aware about the error, with ‘panic setting in’, as reported by ESPN, but decided not to go against VAR protocols and allowed the game to continue.
However, the game should have been halted and the mistake corrected in order the ‘achieve the fairest outcome for the game’ in line with the laws of the game, the report adds, but that opportunity was missed.
It goes on to say that both the VAR team and management team failed to react – with the latter having the chance to demand that the game be rolled back.
Officials should have stopped the game between Tottenham and Liverpool as soon as they realised Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed, reports claim
‘Panic set in’ among the officials team after they became aware Diaz’s strike should have stood
Referee Simon Hooper opted not to go against VAR protocols, but the mistake should have been corrected ‘to achieve the fairest outcome’
There has been outcry over the contentious game that saw two red cards handed out to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota while Reds supporters were also left unimpressed by fouls missed, penalties not given and harsh yellow cards handed out.
The PGMOL have since apologised for the ‘significant human error’ that saw Diaz’s strike disallowed, with officials Darren England and Dan Cook dropped for upcoming fixtures as a result.
Liverpool responded by stressing that it was ‘unacceptable’ to blame human error for the incident as VAR was supposed to alleviate pressure facing officials – adding that it would be exploring ‘all options’ and demanding ‘escalation and resolution’.
As the aftermath of the decision continues to unravel, it has also been claimed in the same report that a VAR audio of the incident will be released to provide transparency of exactly what happened in the Stockley Park studio.
The full statement from the PGMOL said they ‘acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool.’
Liverpool have been left incensed and vowed to explore ‘every options available to them’
VAR official Darren England (left) and VAR assistant Dan Cook (right) have been stood down from their roles for upcoming fixtures
It added: ‘The goal but Luis 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.
‘PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.
‘PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.’
But Liverpool refused to accept their statement as they called for action in a damning verdict posted on Sunday night.
‘Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
Liverpool ended the game with nine men as Diogo Jota joined Curtis Jones in being sent off
‘We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
‘It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
‘That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.’
The statement continued: ‘This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
‘In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.’
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