Refereeing

FORMER Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson clashed with referee Mike Dean in a heated VAR debate ahead of Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Luton.A number of officials came under fire last week after VAR wrongfully ruled out Liverpool’s opening goal against Spurs.
Paul Merson and Mike Dean clashed in a heated debate on Soccer SaturdayCredit: Sky Sports
Dean claimed that ex-players don’t know the rules of the gameCredit: Sky Sports
Merson accused the officials of being ‘scared’Credit: Sky Sports
After Luis Diaz was flagged offside, those reviewing the decision failed to correct it.
The PGMOL subsequently admitted that a “significant human error” affected the process, leaving fans furious.
A panel of pundits continued to discuss the issues surrounding VAR on Sky’s Soccer Saturday this afternoon, with Dean giving an insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
He said: “I think the way forward is to train them better with the process. It’s an ongoing process. They’re always doing online training.
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“Do you get ex-players in? For me, no because half of them don’t even know the rules of the game.
“As you can tell by what you’ve just said about restarting games for the sake of it…”
A furious Merson then jumped in and yelled: “For the sake of it! For the sake of it!
“What do you mean for the sake of it! You’ve got Liverpool against Tottenham, one of the biggest games and you are saying for the sake of it!
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“Come on, there is no law. No one is going to die. So stop the game! You’re all scared!
“You are all like ‘oh my god I am going to get in trouble!’
“Stop the game! Stop the game and then take the circumstances. Because you know the rules, that is different.”
Soccer Saturday presenter Simon Thomas then intervened and implored Merson to “calm down”.
Fans took to social media to react to the “box office” debate, with one person tweeting: “This was brilliant! Completely agree with Merse and Mike Dean was disrespectful here about ex-players knowing the rules.”
Another added: “Merse has just battered Mike Dean.”
A third wrote: “Paul Merson v Mike Dean. Box Office!!!”
While a fourth commented: “Paul Merson rinsing Mike Dean on a Saturday afternoon… Things you love to see.”
Sky Sports are now set to be given more access to VAR as officials look to improve transparency following the controversy. More

SKY SPORTS are set to make a major change to their “Mic’d up” referee show following the recent VAR controversy between Liverpool and Tottenham.The show has been running since the beginning of this season, and sees host Michael Owen talk through the week’s refereeing controversies with PGMOL chief Howard Webb.
We will be seeing more ‘Ref’s Mic’d Up’ on our screens after the Spurs vs Liverpool VAR controversyCredit: Sky Sports
The programme sees Webb explain that week’s decisions with the aid of audio between the referee and the VAR room.
But going forward, it seems the show will be given much more access to VAR recordings and the programme will be shown more frequently.
That comes after the huge error not to award a goal to Luis Diaz during Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham last week.
Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed on the pitch for offside and VAR should have given the goal.
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However miscommunication between Darren England’s VAR team and the referee saw the goal ruled out after the VAR team wrongly assumed that the goal had been given on-field.
Play was therefore restarted and according to VAR protocol, the game cannot be taken back in time once a game has resumed.
Henry Winter of The Times reports the show will now be shown more regularly and be granted greater access to decision making in order to regain trust in the VAR process.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was enraged by the decision to rule Diaz’s goal out and suggested that the game should be replayed in light of it, saying: “It’s important we really deal with it in a proper way. I mean all of the people involved, the referee, linesman, fourth official and VAR – they didn’t do it on purpose. Yes it was a mistake, an obvious mistake.
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“I say this not as manager of Liverpool but as a football person – I think the only outcome should be a replay. Probably will not happen.”
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou meanwhile broke his silence on the matter earlier today and said that he expects referees at the top level to make mistakes.
Postecoglou said: “I don’t think anyone realised that something significant had happened during the game. It was only when I got to the press conference that I knew something important must have been happening. A fairly significant adventure in a game of football. 
“Whatever I say will be seen through the prism that we were the beneficiaries of a mistake and we certainly were. The facts of it are that there was a legitimate goal that wasn’t given. It became clear it wasn’t an integrity issue, it was a mistake in communication that cost Liverpool a goal. 
“We want an errorless faultless system that doesn’t exist and will never exist, unless we want to turn our game into an event that goes for four hours while we’re explaining every decision.”
Postecoglou suggested that changing the language used around VAR checks may make it easier to decipher whether an error has been made in the future.
He said: “From my perspective when I listened to that audio, saying ‘check complete’, someone obviously thought it was a good way of finalising things and it’s worked up until now.
“I would have thought the logical thing is to say ‘goal for Liverpool’ and there isn’t anything but I’m saying that with the ignorance of not knowing how it’s truly set up.
“When listening to that you probably think there’s better ways of communicating a clear decision in such a big situation.” More

PREMIER LEAGUE referees are earning way less than their European counterparts, with some forced to travel abroad to earn more dosh.English officials are under the spotlight after last weekend’s VAR disaster during Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham.
Premier League refs like VAR official Darren England are earning less than their European counterpartsCredit: Rex
Darren England was the man behind the tech as he failed to let Luis Diaz’s legal goal to stand.
It emerged afterwards that he had only just returned from the UAE, having a officiated a game there.
And based on the salary for Premier League officials compared to other European refs, going abroad appears to be a good way to make some pocket money.
Top-flight names like England, Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver receive a base salary of around £42,000.
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For each individual game as the main ref, officials will also pocket £1,500.
This drops to £850 while working as an assistant or on VAR.
If a referee takes charge of 20 games each season, that works out at £30k.
Another 20 matches on VAR comes to £17k.
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And that makes for a grand annual total salary of £89k.
But while it sounds like a lot, it’s just pennies compared with the riches on offer in Italy.
In Serie A, referees get a base salary of £48k – and the incentives for matches are even greater.
Officials can pocket a staggering £3,300 for each game – and £1,300 to work with VAR.
If a ref had 20 games of each, that would work out at £66k, with VAR officials earning £26k.
That would make for a total salary of £140k – £51k more than refs in the Premier League get.
However, both England and Italy pale in comparison with Spain.
The base annual salary for refs in LaLiga is £130k.
Each game as an official is worth £3,600 – working out at £72k for 20 matches.
VAR is worth £1,800 a pop for a total of £36k across 20 games.
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And that brings in a mind-blowing total annual salary of nearly £240k – £151k more than Premier League refs.
In addition, any officials deemed worthy of officiating in the Champions League will take home an extra £6k per game – making for a tasty pay day. More

PGMOL boss Howard Webb will break his silence on the horrific VAR blunder during Tottenham’s win over Liverpool when he appears on Match Officials: Mic’d Up next week.Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly disallowed for offside against Spurs on Saturday, before VAR Darren England and AVAR Dan Cook made a huge error in failing to overturn the on-field decision.
Howard Webb will appear on TV to explain the VAR blunderCredit: Getty
VAR failed to overturn the on-field decision after Luis Diaz’s goal was wronglyCredit: Sky Sports
The PGMOL apologised for the “significant human error” – which was that the VAR did not realise the on-field call was to disallow the goal.
Liverpool then demanded the VAR audio be released – which it was – before Jurgen Klopp called for the game to be replayed.
But now PGMOL chief Webb, 52, will open up about the incident on the the second episode of Match Officials: Mic’d Up.
The programme, that will be shown on Sky Sports and TNT Sports on Tuesday, is set to be joined on the broadcast by former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen.
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Last month’s show analysed six different VAR incidents from the opening month of the Premier League season.
But, according to The Mail, the upcoming episode is set to focus solely on what happened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It will be the first official interview from a member of the PGMOL since the huge VAR error.
VAR England and assistant Cook have both been axed from football fixtures this weekend.
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But referee Hooper is in line to be VAR for Bournemouth’s trip to Everton on Saturday.
After releasing the audio from the incident, the PGMOL also included a bullet point list of “key learnings” from the call.
They read: “Guidance to Video Match Officials has always emphasised the need for efficiency, but never at the expense of accuracy. This principle will be clearly reiterated.
“A new VAR Communication Protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions.
“As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials.” More

REFEREE Darren England is not expected to take charge of another Liverpool game this season following his VAR blunder on Sunday.England, 37, was responsible for failing to overturn the decision to rule out Luis Diaz’s goal in the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.
Darren England has been slammed for his VAR decision during Tottenham vs LiverpoolCredit: Getty
Luis Diaz was clearly onside but VAR failed to overturn the decision to disallow the goalCredit: Sky Sports
Jurgen Klopp has called for a replay of the matchCredit: Alamy
The lines were drawn to show Diaz was onside, but both England and assistant VAR Dan Cook did not realise the on-field decision was to rule it out.
Play resumed and the VAR officials did not interfere again, meaning the goal remained disallowed.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp called for a replay of the match after the VAR audio had been released.
And The Telegraph have confirmed it is “unlikely” the PGMOL will put England in charge of a Liverpool game for the remainder of the campaign.
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That includes in both as a referee and VAR.
However, he is understood to have received the backing of PGMOL boss Howard Webb and will not be sacked.
Both England and Cook have been removed from officiating in this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
And they will not feature for at least another fortnight as domestic action pauses for the international break.
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Saturday’s mistake was not England’s only high-profile error so far this season.
During a game between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, he went to the monitor to look at a penalty he had awarded and stuck with his decision, before the Premier League’s Key Match Incident panel later judged him to have made the wrong call.
England was also the VAR in charge of Nottingham Forest’s clash with Burnley during which he should gave reinstated a goal for Burnley that had been wrongly disallowed for handball. More