Liverpool is seeking clarification from the PGMOL on their disallowed goal in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham, but they do not want a replay, contrary to popular belief.
Liverpool is steadfast in their desire for a comprehensive inquiry of Saturday’s spectacular Video Assistant Referee blunder at Tottenham, with people singled out for not being good enough.
VAR Darren England and Assistant VAR Dan Cook were relieved of their duties for the matches on Sunday and Monday after agreeing to award a Luis Diaz goal, essentially disallowing it.
Both England and Cook had mistakenly believed Diaz had not been flagged offside when he ran through to put the 10-man Reds ahead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and when they quickly told referee Simon Hooper it was “check complete” on the call, they were inadvertently supporting the assistant referee’s incorrect offside decision, despite Diaz being clearly onside.
According to Sky Sports, England and Cook were made aware of their error, but because Tottenham had taken their free-kick to resume the game, they felt unable to stop the game and award the goal in their roles as VARs. According to reports, Hooper, who was working as a fourth official for Fulham against Chelsea on Monday night, was only informed of the error at halftime.
When high-profile and controversial errors have occurred in the past, the officials responsible have been suspended for the next game or games, but Liverpool believes it will not suffice this time given the extraordinary nature of the blunder.
While the Reds do not want to blame England or Cook, they do want transparency and a thorough investigation into one of the oddest Premier League decisions ever.
The club said in a strongly worded statement on Sunday evening that they will investigate their options, noting a “clear need for escalation and resolution” to the matter. Despite rumours to the contrary, this does not imply that they will demand a repeat of the game. It’s simply confirmation that they don’t think the PGMOL’s explanation of “significant human error” is satisfactory.
“This is not about a subjective call, it is a goal – checked and confirmed – that wasn’t given through, I would say, a series of failings,” a current official told Sky Sports. Given the number of people in the control room or listening in, it could and should have been corrected promptly, regardless of regular protocol. This was not your typical circumstance.
“I have to say there’s a question management should answer too, it cannot just be on one person.”
Liverpool is also looking into the fact that England, Cook, and fourth official Michael Oliver were all working in the UAE 48 hours before the Tottenham match.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday night: “There has been criticism of the officials going abroad midweek.” I don’t mind because many of our officials referee in the Champions League and Europa League and then return.
“What I would say is that if officials go to another country because they are better than the officials there, why can’t the opposite be true?” We’re talking about how this season hasn’t been good enough, and both Howard Webb and the officials are aware of it.
“If our officials are going abroad, why can’t we, the Premier League, the best league in the world with the most eyes on it, why can’t we have the best referee’s and best VAR officials coming to our country?”
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