VAR blunder officials Darren England and Daniel Cook are returning to Premier League duty this weekend.
The duo hit the headlines last month following their glaring error in the clash between Tottenham and Liverpool.
England and Cook were the VAR and VAR assistant when Liverpool forward Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside as the Merseysiders went on to lose 2-1.
The Colombian international thought he’d put the visitors in the lead in the 34th minute with a nifty finish just inside the 18-yard box.
However, on-field ref Simon Hooper and VAR official England bizarrely ruled out the goal with Cook also failing to intervene – despite replays clearly showing Diaz was onside.
Prem chiefs came down hard on VAR man for the day England and VAR assistant Cook by removing them from their next proposed outing – Nottingham Forest vs Brentford earlier this month.
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But the pair are both returning for the next round of fixtures after weeks in the spotlight.
England is fourth official for Brentford’s home game against Burnley on Saturday.
Cook will be assistant referee for Sheffield United’s match against Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Hooper is the designated VAR for Newcastle’s clash with Crystal Palace.
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The expletive filled audio of the VAR gaffe behind Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal was released after the farce.
The clip reveals VAR officials England and assistant Cook drew the lines showing that Diaz was onside.
The indication was then given by the officials that the check was complete, with on-field referee Hooper heard saying: “Well done boys good process.”
However, the officials then realised play had resumed without the correct call being made on field after the replay operator queried the decision.
Upon being asked again by the replay operator about the outcome of the decision, the VAR team then became aware the incorrect call had been made.
Assistant video referee Cook then backs this up by saying: “That’s wrong Daz.”
Upon realising the error, England be heard saying: “Oh ****.”
The replay operator can be heard requesting to delay the game, but since it had already resumed there was no way to pull it back.
England can be heard saying: “I can’t do anything”, before swearing once again.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb explained why VAR failed to rectify the clear mistake during an episode of Match Officials: Mic’d Up.
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He said that England “lost sight of what the on-field decision was” after going through his processes “pretty quickly” and claimed that efficiency is key but “not at the sacrifice of accuracy”.
Webb also then confirmed that the laws of the game, as set out by Fifa and IFAB, did not allow the officials to intervene to rectify the mistake.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
