Premier League Referees Involved In Tottenham vs. Liverpool VAR Error Dropped

The Premier League referees involved in the VAR error during the league game between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have been dropped from officiating league games in the coming weekend.

The video assistant referee, Darren England who mistakenly overturned a goal for Liverpool against Tottenham, and his assistant, Dan Cook who didn’t insist on making the on-field referee review the decision on the pitchside monitor, won’t be used next weekend.

Recall that on Saturday, September 30, Liverpool lost 2-1 with nine men against Tottenham Hotspur. But one of the most controversial moments of the game was when VAR England and his assistant Cook did not overturn the wrong offside judgment against Luis Diaz.

England and Cook were removed from duty for the remainder of the weekend as a result of the error, which the PGMOL, the organization that governs Premier League referees, deemed a “significant human error.”

The losing team, Liverpool, attacked PGMOL’s handling of the contentious incident, calling its explanation “unacceptable” and claiming that “sporting integrity has been undermined.”

The club on Monday officially requested access to the audio recordings of the match officials to better understand how the communication breakdown that led to the error happened.

While the VAR officials have been asked to step down, the on-field referee of the game, Simon Hooper was demoted to a VAR official. He will be in charge of the VAR for Bournemouth’s trip to Everton.

Also, the fourth official of the controversial Tottenham Hotspur win over Liverpool, Michael Oliver, will be on duty next weekend as a VAR official in Luton Town’s game against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. In the next game, he will also be in charge of the Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday.