Jurgen Klopp has sensationally called for Liverpool’s match with Tottenham to be replayed following VAR’s ‘significant error in disallowing Luis Diaz’s goal for offside
Liverpool’s Colombian winger scored but his goal was chalked off for offside due to a monumental mess-up by VAR which saw those at Stockley Park wrongly believe the on-field decision to be ‘goal’, meaning they said the check was complete, with the player clearly onside.
The Reds officially demanded the recording on Monday and their request was granted on Tuesday afternoon, with referee’s body PGMOL making the audio tape public on Tuesday night – which showed officials knew of their huge mistake immediately but still did not stop the game.
Ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League clash with Union SG, Klopp said he believed the match – which finished 2-1 in favour of Tottenham – should be replayed as ‘something like this has never happened’.
He said: ‘The audio didn’t change it at all. I wasn’t interested in why things happened. I saw the outcome, I saw a goal, we scored.
Jurgen Klopp has called for Liverpool’s match with Tottenham to be replayed following VAR’s ‘significant error’ in disallowing Luis Diaz’s strike during Saturday’s 2-1 away defeat
Liverpool have made a formal request to receive the VAR audio from the decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal for offside against Tottenham
‘It’s important we really deal with it in a proper way. I mean all of the people involved, the referee, linesman, fourth official and VAR – they didn’t do it on purpose. Yes it was a mistake, an obvious mistake.
‘I think there are solutions for it. I can say immediately, even though some people wouldn’t want me to say, not as a Liverpool manager, but as a football person, the only outcome should be a replay.’
The VAR operator is heard to say after play wrongly restarted, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait, the on-field decision was ‘offside’, are you happy with this? That’s wrong that, Daz (Darren England, VAR)’, to which England sighs and swears, shouting ‘Oh f***’.
Oli Kohout, the VAR Hub Operations Executive, called in to order officials to delay the game and right their wrong, but England bluntly replied, ‘Can’t do anything’ and the game restarted with a Tottenham free-kick. ‘I can’t do anything… (bleeped-out expletives),’ England continued
The audio demonstrates a breakdown in communication between those involved and a serious lapse in concentration by VAR. The PGMOL previously hired Phil Bentham, former rugby league referee and TMO, to help make sure their messages are clear and concise.
Moments after the match restarted, officials are heard to say ‘perfect’ and ‘well done boys, good process’. The PGMOL said in a statement that ‘standards fell short of expectations’ and it has identified three key 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.
‘However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.’
More to follow…
The PGMOL released the full audio from the VAR hub during Liverpool ‘s controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, that saw referee Simon Hooper incorrectly disallow the Reds a goal
VAR official Darren England (left) and VAR assistant Dan Cook (right) were dropped from their roles for upcoming fixtures after the high-profile error