Listen: VAR audio released for incorrectly disallowed Liverpool goal
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the referees' governing body in English football, has released the audio from when Luis Diaz's goal was mistakenly called offside during Liverpool's 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The VAR, Darren England, can be heard swearing upon realizing the error and saying he "can't do anything" once play has restarted.
Here’s the audio released by PGMOL from the VAR hub relating to the Luis Diaz goal that was incorrectly disallowed in Spurs v Liverpool#TOTLIV #VAR pic.twitter.com/tXADe4iLDh
— Francis Keogh (@HonestFrank) October 3, 2023
In a statement published by the Premier League, PGMOL said the VAR team's check of Diaz's 34th-minute goal "was carried out correctly" when the officials recognized the Colombian attacker was onside. However, PGMOL then indicates England undid that work when he instead approved the on-pitch call for offside.
"In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated 'check complete,' therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR)," the statement explained.
An unnamed replay operator queried the call before the assistant VAR, Dan Cook, also questioned the decision, but England failed to notify the on-pitch officials that an error had been made.
"The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point," the statement continues. "However, the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the Laws of the Game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted."
England and Cook were dropped from the upcoming weekend's games after the mistake. They reportedly worked at a match in the United Arab Emirates just two days prior to the fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Liverpool complained the day after their defeat at Spurs that the failure to award Diaz a goal was evidence of "sporting integrity being undermined." Jurgen Klopp's side was reduced to nine men during the match but was on course for a commendable point until Joel Matip scored an own goal in the 96th minute.