Referees' body, the PGMOL, have vowed to change their communication protocols to prevent another embarrassing VAR blunder.
The audio from the bungled VAR call which cost Liverpool the opening goal in Saturday's defeat at Tottenham was released last night, confirming that VAR Darren England was immediately told he had made a mistake but felt unable to correct it.
Luis Diaz's strike was incorrectly flagged offside, but England (below) failed to correct the error on reviewing the footage because he mistakenly believed a goal had been awarded by the on-field officials.
Liverpool demanded the audio of the incident from the PGMOL, which was released by the Premier League along with a statement from the referees' body acknowledging that "standards fell short of expectations" and revealing the findings of an internal review into the incident. PGMOL promised to introduce new protocols for communication after the audio revealed confusion in the operating rooms.
Within seconds of Spurs restarting the game with a free-kick, England was told by the relay operator, who manages the technology: "The onfield decision was offside. Are you happy with this?" England initially replies: "Yeah", before being told by assistant VAR, Dan Cook: "That's wrong, that, Daz."
The laws of the game state that once play has restarted, the VAR is unable to change a decision.
When repeatedly told by the relay operator that the on-field decision was offside and that Oli Kohout, the VAR hub operations executive in a separate room, was requesting for the game to be delayed, England replies: "They've restarted the game... I can't do anything." Referee Simon Hooper could not hear audio from the VAR room, only comments directed at him, which included England saying: "Check complete, that's fine, perfect," after confirming that Diaz was onside.
In a statement, PGMOL said: "We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool after the conclusion of the fixture. A detailed report has been submitted to the Premier League, who have shared it with Liverpool and all other Premier League clubs. The review has identified the following key learnings to mitigate against the risk of a future error:
• Guidance to video match officials has always emphasised the need for efficiency, but never at the expense of accuracy. This principle will be clearly reiterated
• A new VAR communication protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and VAR team
• The VAR will confirm the outcome of the check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision
"PGMOL are committed to enhancing VAR performance through a new training programme which started this season and focuses on process and best practice for all VARs, AVARs and replay operators in their specific roles," the statement added.
England and Cook, who have been stood down from officiating on Premier League matches, made a six-hour flight from the UAE the day before the game, after taking charge of a Pro League match on Thursday night. PGMOL and the FA have subsequently agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.
