Lee Mason has been rehired by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) as referees’ coach.
He will work with the officials at Premier League, EFL, and Women’s Super League levels, but he will operate primarily in League 1 and 2. He has been pulled away from the VAR to avoid what happened against Arsenal.
Mason’s reappointment is one of the moves made by Professional Game Match Officials Limited to show support for President Howard Webb.
Lee Mason spent 15 years overseeing 289 top flight matches as a top-level official before retiring in 2021. After his retirement, he became a Premier League Video assistant referee.
Six months later, the referee stepped down after he was heavily criticized over a costly mistake that made Arsenal play a 1-1 draw with Brentford on February 23, 2023.
In the match, Ivan Toney scored an equalizer, but Christian Norgaard, the player who provided the assist, was clearly offside. Mason, who was in charge of VAR, failed to make a rule on the red line to detect the offside.
The referee was not selected the next weekend after the VAR blunder. It was later confirmed that he had left the company through mutual agreement.
Lee Mason’s reappointment didn’t go down well with ex-referee Keith Hackett, who said, “The guy who did not set the world alight in the middle but was a survivor and an abject failure in the VAR role will be advising and passing on his skill sets to others.”
Who Is Lee Mason?
He was born on October 29, 1971, in the city of Bolton, Lancashire, England. Lee Mason is currently 51 years old.
Mason was the former chairman of the Bolton Referee Society and is associated with his country’s Football association.
Mason attended Thornleigh College in Bolton and the Liverpool Higher Institution of Education between 1990 and 1993.
He has a younger brother named Andy, who is a former Professional footballer who was trained by Bolton before ending his career at a non-league club.
In March 2015, Mason controversially ruled out a goal scored by former Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson against Cardiff City, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
In December 2020, Mason was heavily criticized by former Wolverhampton Wanderers coach Espirito Santos after Burnley defeated Wolves. Espirito Santos failed to apologize after criticizing the referee.
On February 27, 2021, Mason controversially ruled out Brighton Defender Lewis Dunk’s goal against West Brom, causing strong criticism of Mason in the media and Sky Sports news.
Wilson was booked, and the commentators were confused about the foul Wilson committed. He has given out 1,795 yellow cards and 71 red cards.
What do you think about Lee Mason coming back to the Premier League? Air your views in the comments section.
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