Liverpool receive 'controversial' VAR audio as PGMOL axes officials from Premier League duty
Premier League: Liverpool blast PGMOL over 'unfair' VAR call, release hard hit statement after Spurs defeat
Liverpool Football Club has received the 'controversial' audio recording between referee Simon Hooper and the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook that saw the officials wrongfully chalk away a goal that would have allowed the Reds to lead Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend.
According to a Telegraph report, Liverpool have been granted the recordingbyProfessional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and will take their time in reviewing the tapes. Howard Webb, the chief of the referee body is expected to release the recording publically in a matter of days as theVAR crisis reaches its pinnacle in the country.
Both Webb and PGMOL succumbed to Liverpool's demand for the tape, less than 24 hours after the club put out a scathing statement and vowed to achieve full transparency in the way VAR operates currently.
While Liverpool officials go through the recording, PGMOL has axed Darren England and Dan Cook for a successive week, following their calamitous performance. Both had missed last week's Premier League fixtures and will continue to sit on the sidelines over the weekend as well.
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Down to 10 men, the team from Merseyside took the lead, courtesy of a fabulous finish from Colombian striker Luis Diaz at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London last week. However, the referee and VAR deemed the goal to be offside, without drawing the usual lines and going through the footage multiple times, as is the norm.
After the match, PGMOL released an apology statement where it recognised that VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook failed to overturn the on-field decision of offside despite carrying out the required procedures.
PGMOL released a statement, accepting the human error by the officials. However, the situation did not go well with Liverpool, who also released a statement to clear their stand.
“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR," read the statement.
“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention," it added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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