VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook have been changed for two games this matchweek following Liverpool’s erroneous goal being incorrectly disallowed in their 2-1 Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were both dismissed from the game, which reduced Liverpool to nine men. Joel Matip’s own goal in stoppage time gave Spurs the victory.
The Merseyside team believed they had seized the lead in the first half when Luis Diaz snuck in behind the defense and blasted past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario into the bottom corner. The goal, however, was disallowed by the referee for offside.
The organization that oversees referees, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), eventually acknowledged that it was the erroneous call to rule against Diaz’s effort, attributing the error to human error, and that the goal “should have been awarded through VAR intervention.”
In a statement on Sunday, the PGMOL said: “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, (assistant VAR) on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively.
“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”
