The Premier League’s audio reveals that the VAR official is urged to delay the game by the PGMOL operations room - but the VAR takes the view it is too late to intervene
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Referees’ body PGMOL have made public the full audio which reveals the shocking moment the VAR officials realise their terrible mistake.
VAR Darren England can be heard screaming: “Oh f***” when he realises his error before insisting “I can’t do anything” after Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly ruled offside in Tottenham’s win over Liverpool. The audio also reveals that England is urged to delay the game by the PGMOL operations room - but the VAR takes the view it is too late to intervene and tell referee Simon Hooper to roll back the play and give a goal.
It gives an incredible insight into the miscommunication between Hooper and the officials England, VAR assistant Dan Cook and the VAR operations room. It is the Replay Operator who spots the huge error and says on the two-minute recording: “On field decision was offside. Are you happy with this image? It’s onside. The image that we gave them is onside.”
Shortly afterwards VAR England can be heard shouting: “Oh **.” The Replay Operator cuts back in and says: “Delay, delay. Oli (PGMOL Hub Ops) is saying to delay. Oli is saying to delay.”
VAR: “Pardon?” Replay Operator: “Oli is calling in to say delay the game. The decision is onside.”
VAR: “Can’t do anything.”
PGMOL bosses insist that Hooper cannot hear the ongoing conversation past when the offside was made as “check complete” and was not aware of the error until half-time so could not have stepped in. The PGMOL and Premier League have published the full audio recording from the incident on social media to explain the goings-on in the build-up to the incident.
The audio also reveals that England is urged to delay the game by the PGMOL operations room
It was first sent to Liverpool who had made a formal request to hear it and then the PGMOL had pledged to make it widely available to explain what has been labelled as the biggest VAR mistake to date. England and Cook were both stood down from match duties from games at Nottingham Forest and Fulham and have also been taken off Premier League duties this weekend. Hooper has been absolved of blame.
The Premier League have also carried out a full review into the VAR mix-up as well as revealing that they will add a further layer of checks so, in future, the VAR will double check it with his assistant before relaying the decision to the referee.
They will also develop a new pool of dedicated VAR specialists rather than have officials dip in and out of different duties. They have pledged to “review” Premier League officials being allowed to referee games outside of UEFA and FIFA appointments after it emerged that England and Cook were given permission to oversee a match in United Arab Emirates last Thursday.
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PGMOL bosses will also stress the need for “efficiency” but “never at the expense of accuracy” amid suggestions that England and Cook rushed into the decision. The PGMOL said in a statement: ”We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture.
“A detailed report, including the key learnings and immediate actions taken, alongside the audio between the on-field officials and VAR team has been submitted to the Premier League, who have shared it with Liverpool FC and subsequently all other Premier League Clubs.
“PGMOL are committed to enhancing VAR performance through a new training programme which started this season and focuses on process and best practice for all VARs, AVARs and Replay Operators in their specific roles. While we have a number of FIFA-recognised VARs, work is ongoing to create a dedicated pool of VAR specialists.”
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Assistant Referee 1 (AR1): All good. Both holding. Both holding.
Referee: Yeah, leave it alone.
AR1: Waiting. Delaying, delaying.
VAR: Possible offside, Diaz.
AR2: Give it.
AR1: Coming back for the offside, mate.
VAR: Just checking the offside. Delay, delay. Give the kick point, let’s go. Kick point please?
Referee: Yeah, no worries mate.
Replay operator: So, here we are.
Referee: Wait.
Replay operator: Just get a tight angle.
VAR: Yeah, give me 2D line ready after this one for frame two after that.
Replay operator: So frame two there?
VAR: That’s fine. Perfect yeah. 2D line on left boot.
Replay operator: Let me just switch angles.
VAR: Romero, I think it is?
Replay operator: I think it might be this angle better? Happy with this angle?
VAR: Yep.
Replay operator: 2D line on the boot?
VAR: 2D line on the boot.
Replay operator: Yep, okay. So 2D line on the boot.
VAR: And stop. Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect.
AR1: Playing.
Referee: Cheers mate.
VAR: Thank you, mate.
Referee: Well done boys, good process.
Replay operator: Wait, wait, wait, wait. The on-field decision was offside. Are you happy with this?
Assistant VAR: Yeah.
Replay operator: Are you happy with this?
Assistant VAR: Offside, goal, yeah. That’s wrong that, Daz.
VAR: What?
Replay operator: On-field decision was offside. Are you happy with this image? Yeah, it’s onside. The image that we gave them is onside.
Assistant VAR: He’s played him, he’s gone offside.
VAR: Oh, f***
Replay operator: Delay, delay. Oli’s [PGMOL Hub Ops) saying to delay. Oli’s saying to delay.
VAR: Pardon?
Replay operator: Oli’s calling in to say delay the game. The decision is onside.
VAR: We can’t do anything.
Replay operator: Oli’s saying to delay. Oli’s saying to delay.
VAR: Oli?
Fourth official: Yeah?
Replay operator: Delay the game, delay the game. Stop the game.
VAR: They’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything.
Assistant VAR: Yeah they’ve restarted. Yeah. No.
VAR: I can’t do anything, I can’t do anything. F***
