Oct 11 (Reuters) – Head of referees Howard Webb said steps are being taken to ensure the VAR error that disallowed Liverpool’s legal goal against Tottenham Hotspur does not happen again.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted VAR incorrectly called an offside decision after Luis Diaz scored the opener in the 2-1 defeat at Anfield.
Diaz was present, but the PGMOL said the goal was not scored because VAR “failed to make a decision on the pitch” and incorrectly declared “review completed”.
“After we saw what happened at Spurs vs Liverpool, we analyzed the situation and thought about what we could have done better to put the defences,” Webb told Match Officials: Mic’d Up.
“We’ve been working hard over the next few days to figure out what we need to do to make sure communications safeguards are in place to prevent this from happening.”
Asked why the referee couldn’t stop the game once it started, Webb said that by the time VAR and his assistants spotted the error, it was too late to intervene.
“They realized that the laws of the game set by FIFA and (soccer’s governing body) IFAB did not allow that,” Webb added. “Obviously there is a process that is part of the laws of the game … And it does not allow you to come back under those circumstances.”
