The PGMOL Chief Howard Webb claims steps have been taken to ensure that there is no repeat of the VAR error that saw Luis Diaz’s legitimate goal for Liverpool against Tottenham get chalked off.
The PGMOL admitted the fact that VAR got an offside decision wrong when the Colombian winger scored what should have been the first goal of the match.
PGMOL claimed the reason for chalking off the goal was as a result of VAR losing sight of the onfield decision and an incorrectly communicated check.
Howard Webb released a statement in his latest interview, saying, “Having seen what happened in the Tottenham vs. Liverpool match, we analyzed the situation and had a look at what we could do better to put some safeguards in place.
“We worked hard over the subsequent days to look at what we needed to do to put in those safeguards around the communication to avoid that sort of thing happening.
“We got all the officials together; we spoke through the need to go through that process very diligently.
“We are really disappointed in the game; we are disappointed in our reputation.”
When the interviewer proceeded, asking him whether the PGMOL was considering replaying the match between Liverpool and Tottenham, Webb responded, “The VAR and the assistant had realized the mistake, and it was too late to intervene.”
What Happened Between Tottenham and Liverpool?
Before the first 30 minutes of the match, Liverpool went down to 10 men after Curtis Jones’ horrible tackle on Yves Bissouma.
Liverpool thought they were in front in the 34th minute after Luis Diaz received a pass from the midfield to score for Liverpool.
However, after Diaz’s goal, the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. Replays showed Diaz was actually onside, and the goal should have stood.
The VAR team proceeded to evaluate the replays, starting with the Colombian collecting the ball and the moment it was released by Mohamed Salah.
A few minutes later, after VAR analysed the Liverpool goal, Darren England told the on-field referee Simon Hooper the check was complete, indicating the goal should be ruled out for offside and Tottenham should restart the game with a free kick.
The on-field referee wasted no time continuing the match, indicating the goal was already chalked off for offside.
When Darren England realized his mistake, Liverpool were already attacking through Andy Robertson and Diaz.
The VAR Hub operations manager communicated that the game should be stopped in order to rectify, although under the laws of the game, Darren England could not stop the game.
What do you think about Howard Webb’s statement on the next step to take after the Liverpool game against Tottenham? Air your views in the comments section.
