Spurs beat Liverpool at home in the Premier League on Saturday but all the limelight from the match has been taken over by a horrendous VAR decision.
Luis Diaz was adjudged offside in the first half on Sunday when the left-winger put the ball in the back of the net following a through pass from Mohamed Salah.
The linesman flagged for offside immediately following which the VAR sprung into action. However, the VAR decided within a fraction of a second, going with the onfield decision and this was a bit dubious because they did not even bother to draw the line.
Everyone knew there was something fishy and these doubts were confirmed when released an official statement after the match, admitting to a ‘significant human error’.
The statement read: “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.”
Now, ESPN journalist Dale Johnson has revealed on X what the human error actually was.
He wrote: “So the VAR, Darren England, checked offside thinking the onfield decision was ‘goal’. It was a quick offside check because it was clear Diaz was onside, so he told the referee “check complete”.
“In telling the ref “check complete” he is saying the onfield decision was correct.”
The VAR and AVAR for the Spurs vs Liverpool match have dropped from Sunday’s matches as a form of punishment but this wrong decision has spurred a massive debate.
This is not the first time VAR has adjudged something wrongfully but this season these poor decisions are increasing in number. Many pundits have pointed out that drawing lines is causing much more chaos and given that the Premier League rejected FIFA’s semi-automated claiming that the said tech would soon be outdated, the frustration is even more.
As we have seen in the past, the PGMOL have accepted the mistake and maybe the VAR will come out with an apology of his own but that will be the end of it.
One of the biggest matches of this matchweek was ruined by a poor decision and we are sure this is not going to be the last time we are going to see such a blunder.
