After receiving backlash for mistakenly ruling Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool as offside against Tottenham, the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has apologized.
Seeing another injustice in the Premier League, which has become practically routine in England’s top flight, did not make for an easy weekend for Liverpool supporters. Having been reduced to nine men after red cards to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota, the Reds lost 2-1 in a heartbreaking, late-game collapse against Tottenham away in North London.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had intended to capitalize on Manchester City’s unexpected defeat at the hands of Wolves earlier on Saturday. However, what they saw was a game marred by debatable calls.
Several debatable calls marred game
Before anything else, a VAR review of Curtis Jones’ incident with Yves Bissouma resulted in a red card being issued to Jones. The Reds were reduced to nine men later in the second half and were forced to finish the game that way.
Although it did not seem like Diogo Jota fouled Destiny Udogie for his first booking, the referee nevertheless sent him off the field after he received two yellow cards in the span of a minute. And then there was the offside VAR controversy that occurred in the middle of everything.
The Reds’ Colombian forward Luis Diaz believed he scored early on, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) examined the call but ultimately decided not to change it.
No visible lines had been placed by officials to indicate to fans whether or not the Liverpool attacker was off- or onside. But then, just when things couldn’t get any worse, Spurs scored a goal of their own.
What did PGMOL say ABOUT LIVERPOOL OFFSIDE DECISION?
The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL), the organization in charge of referees in England, admitted that they made a mistake by disallowing Diaz’s goal, after receiving significant criticism.
“PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. The goal by Luiz Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
“This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene. PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error,” they said in a statement.
Two of the men responsible for the mistake, Darren England and Dan Cook, will step down from their roles for upcoming fixtures.
Photo: IMAGO & Action Plus
