Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham was mistakenly disallowed by the referees; VAR did not overturn a wrong offside because it believed that the decision of the pitch was to score a goal; Liverpool called on PGMOL to release audio between referees
Jamie Carragher responds to Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal for Liverpool in the Spurs defeat after Dave Jones explains what happened on Saturday night.
Jamie Carragher says the officials who wrongly upheld the decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal at Tottenham panicked and froze after realizing their mistake.
Diaz missed an offside goal against Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, but replays showed he actually did it.
However, according to PGMOL, VAR activist Darren England mistakenly believed the pitch decision was a goal, so he told referee Simon Hooper to uphold the original call.
PGMOL released a statement after Spurs’ 2-1 win over Liverpool saying the decision was due to “significant human error”, while IFAB rules said play could not be returned to correct the error when the referee restarted play.
But speaking to Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “It’s really difficult for me that they have to know within two seconds because Tottenham took a free-kick but they didn’t start. “I would yell at the ref, but maybe they’ll say they have to wait until the ball comes out. They’ll say they followed protocol, won’t let them finish it, but they’re panicking, said. It’ll say. froze.
“I know it’s a rule, but it’s a bureaucratic rule. If they reversed it, we’d applaud their leadership.
“They say the referees didn’t know a foul had been committed until half-time, but when the ball went out of play [after the incident], the look on that referee’s face… something seems to have gone wrong.”
Stephen Warnock and Sue Smith question Dermot Gallagher about why VAR could not advise Liverpool to win after Luis Diaz’s strike against Tottenham was wrongly disallowed.
Carragher also repeated the request of Liverpool to PGMOL and Howard Webb, head of the organization of referees, to publish the audio of conversations during the incident.
“The only way Howard Webb and PGMOL regained their credibility was to get it out,” said the former Liverpool defender.
“I think it’s unbelievable that all the parties didn’t vote. I think it’s incomprehensible.”
Carra: “We are at a crisis point with VAR”
PGMOL’s apology to Liverpool was the second they have been forced to make this season after Wolves opted not to concede a late penalty in the Manchester United defeat after Andre Onana tripped Sasa Kalajdzic.
Dermot Gallagher says the decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham was a “very, very bad mistake”.
The apologies followed a string of high-profile mistakes last season, with Carragher saying: “I don’t think the feeling about VAR has been worse. It is at a crisis point.
“It’s not just this decision, it’s also because of other events this season, like Wolves meeting Manchester United on Monday night.
PGMOL’s VAR excuses are listed
Tottenham 2:1 Liverpool, 30 September 2023
Luis Diaz missed a goal for Liverpool after he was wrongly adjudged to be offside after VAR Darren England failed to intervene.
Man Utd 1-0 Wolves, 14 August 2023
Andre Onana recklessly challenged Sasa Kalajdzic at Manchester United, but VAR Jonathan Moss did not tell referee Simon Hooper to review the penalty on a throw-in screen.
Tottenham 2:1 Brighton, 8 April 2023
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg appeared to foul Kaoru Mitoma in the Tottenham box, but referee Stuart Attwell refused to award a penalty and VAR Michael Salisbury upheld the decision. Everton 0-1 Man City, 26 February 2023
Manchester City midfielder RodrÃ’s handball fell between referee Paul Tierney and VAR Chris Kavanagh, denying Everton a penalty.
Arsenal 1-1 Brentford, 11 February 2023
Ivan Toney’s offside equalizer was allowed to stand despite Lee Mason’s VAR review failing to spot Christian Norgaard standing offside.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton, 11 February 2023
VAR John Brooks misplaced the touchline to deny Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan’s opener at Selhurst Park as a legal goal was ruled out.
Brighton 2:1 Liverpool, 29 January 2023
Liverpool’s Fabinho only earned a yellow card because he had to tackle Evan Ferguson after a quick run into the net.
Aston Villa 3-1 Man Utd, 6 November 2022
Lucas Digne scored a free-kick, but the post-match review concluded that United’s wall had been placed at the back of the league, giving the Villa full-back more space. Forest 2-2 Brentford, 5 November 2022
Brentford were awarded a penalty despite replays where Dean Henderson had little contact with Yoane Wissa.
Fulham 3-0 Aston Villa, 20 October 2022
Douglas Luiz was sent off for Villa, although Aleksandar Mitrovic caused havoc.
Man Utd 3-1 Arsenal, 4 September 2022
Gabriel Martinelli’s goal for Arsenal was canceled out by VAR after Martin Odegaard was mistakenly thought to have fouled Christian Eriksen.
Newcastle 0-0 Crystal Palace, 3 September 2022
Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell had an own goal denied after Joe Willock was mistakenly adjudged to have blocked goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Chelsea 2-1 West Ham, 3 September 2022
Jarrod Bowen was wrongly adjudged to have fouled Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, denying West Ham a late equaliser.
Crystal Palace 3-1 Aston Villa, 20 August 2022
Andy Madley changed his mind on Crystal Palace’s penalty after consulting the referee, despite Lucas Digne handling the ball.
“I don’t want to gang up on the officials or Howard Webb – they must feel terrible. I don’t like conspiracy theories – nobody gets anything out of it.
“We’ve all made mistakes. But this is a terrible mistake, unprecedented.”
