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      Mark Halsey: VAR is NOT the issue, it’s the people using it… here’s my five-point plan to fix it after latest shambles

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      HOWARD WEBB, the PGMOL chief, has a mammoth job to regain the trust of players, managers and fans after the biggest VAR blunder we’ve ever seen.We have had inconsistent calls on handballs, challenges and penalty incidents since the technology was introduced.
      VAR was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons during Tottenham’s win over LiverpoolCredit: Alamy
      Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes five areas of improvement are needed to fix VARCredit: Rex
      But there’s a major problem when we start getting factual decisions wrong, such as the goal by Liverpool’s Luis Diaz being unfairly ruled out for offside against Spurs.
      VAR isn’t the problem — it’s the personnel using the technology and it’s no wonder people are losing trust and faith in the system.
      No one wants PGMOL ­statements, apologises or explanations on TV shows — refs’ boss Webb must forget all that.
      He just needs to sort out VAR — and the standard of officiating — fast because the technology is a good tool IF used correctly.
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      The Premier League has the best players and managers and the supporters pay a lot of money.
      But the officials, with VAR bunglers Darren England and AVAR Dan Cook the latest culprits, nowhere near the level required.
      Everyone makes mistakes but they are now happening every weekend.
      Here’s a five-point plan to avoid further horror shows:
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      IMPROVE COMMUNICATION
      Only the on-field referee and VAR should speak — nobody else.
      During the review process, from the cases we have heard, the system is too chaotic with far too much chit-chat going on. Just cut out the “mate this” and “pal that”.
      Conversations must be more precise, to the point and clinical. We can learn from cricket and both rugby codes where reviews are slick.
      At the moment, there’s too much going on over the mic which leads to confusion.
      MAKE THE AUDIO PUBLIC
      Fans must be allowed to hear the conversation between ref and VAR. We’re in 2023, not 1973. I know IFAB currently prevents this and Webb wants this to come in.
      But we need to push to make this happen because Webb and Co must regain the trust and faith of everyone in the game.
      Suspicions have been raised over some VAR offside decisions in recent weeks — but the only way to be transparent is for fans to hear the audio.
      It would remove that layer of doubts that is now creeping in.
      Luis Diaz was wrongly deemed offside before scoring at Tottenham and VAR didn’t intervene
      MORE TRAINING AND EDUCATION
      VAR officials had four days of extra training before the start of the season — but was that really enough?
      Referees have not trained for all those years to sit in front of a TV screen. It’s a different job and do they really know what they are looking for?
      Pundits have sat there for years, have the experience of watching matches for hours on end to make the correct judgements.
      Prem clubs haven’t helped themselves by voting against the semi-automatic offside system and it needs to be revisited and introduced straight away.
      SET UP A SPECIALIST PANEL OF VAR OPERATORS
      We need a dedicated team that just focuses on VAR because the personnel at present is a huge issue.
      They must be non-active officials, ex-refs or former players who know the laws of the game.
      Ex-players know what a poor challenge is and also the natural and unnatural positions of the arm/hand when judging deliberate and accidental handball.
      Mike Dean was an excellent ref but not suited to using VAR and was quickly moved on.
      Curtis Jones was sent off after VAR showed referee Simon Hooper a still imageCredit: Premier League
      STOP USING STILL PICTURES
      When ref Simon Hooper went to the monitor at Spurs on Saturday, VAR England had lined up a still picture of Curtis Jones’ tackle on Yves Bissouma.
      That immediately plants a seed in the ref’s mind over what the outcome will be.
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      Stills and slow motion make every challenge much worse than what it is.
      Reviews must be in real time initially. More

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      Spurs vs Liverpool would have to be REPLAYED if Hooper overturned VAR blunder… with ref told of gaffe moments too late

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      REF Simon Hooper was told that Luis Diaz’ goal against Spurs should have been allowed.But the information from blunder-VAR Darren England came TOO LATE for Hooper to reverse his decision and award the goal.
      Simon Hooper was told by VAR that Diaz’s goal should have been allowedCredit: SKY SPORTS
      Luis Diaz thought he’d put Liverpool aheadCredit: Reuters
      Simon Hooper was the official for the matchCredit: Alamy
      PGMOL chiefs have conceded that England errantly told Hooper “check complete” in the mistaken belief that Diaz had not been flagged offside.
      Hooper then restarted play with a Tottenham free-kick.
      It was only when the ball next went out of play, for a throw-in to Liverpool, that Hooper was informed of the cock-up that cost Jurgen Klopp’s side a legitimate goal.
      However, that meant there was nothing Hooper could do under the International FA Board protocols on VAR use.
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      The protocols state: “If play has stopped and been restarted, the referee may not undertake a ‘review’ except for a case of mistaken identity or for a potential sending-off offence relating to violent conduct, spitting, biting or extremely offensive, insulting and/or abusive action(s).”
      That does not extend to going back to a flawed offside decision, as in this case.
      And while a number of Liverpool fans in particular are complaining about Manchester United being awarded a match-winning penalty after the full-time whistle in their game at Brighton two seasons ago, the situation there was very different.
      Referee Chris Kavanagh failed to spot Neal Maupay clearly handling off the line nand had signalled the end of the game.
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      But the offence was seen by the VAR – ironically Hooper – and, as play had not restarted, Kavanagh rightly allowed added time for the penalty to be converted by Bruno Fernandes.
      On Saturday, had Hooper “gone back” to the decision and awarded the goal, it would have been a fundamental breach of the protocols and the Laws of the Game. 
      It would have led to a Spurs protest and – as a blatant violation of the Laws – would have been likely to see the FA forced to agree with the Premier League that the match would be declared null and void and had to be replayed. More

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      Mac Allister risks wrath of FA with ’12 players’ social media post as Liverpool ace gets in spat with Spurs rival Romero

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      ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER could face an FA wrap for suggesting referee Simon Hooper was against Liverpool in their defeat to Tottenham.The Reds had a perfectly legal goal ruled out in the first half of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to the North Londoners, which they finished with nine men.
      Liverpool suffered a controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on SaturdayCredit: REX
      The Merseysiders had a perfectly good goal chalked off in the 34th minuteCredit: REX
      Kop star Alexis Mac Allister suggested referee Simon Hooper was on Spurs’ sideCredit: ALAMY
      Argentina international Mac Allister vented his frustrations on social media after seeing countryman and Spurs defender Cristian Romero’s Instagram post praising the win.
      He commented: “Normal when you have 12 players.”
      Romero quickly got wind of his international team-mate’s suggestion that Spurs were aided by the ref, snapping back by saying: “Cry at home.”
      FA chiefs could potentially charge Mac Allister for questioning the integrity of referee Hooper.
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      Kop chief Jurgen Klopp was slapped with a two-match ban last season for improper conduct after accusing referee of Paul Tierney of bias during their 4-3 win over Spurs.
      Liverpool could very well lodge a complaint over the VAR shambles which overshadowed Saturday’s defeat to Spurs.
      On-the-field ref and VAR Darren England wrongly ruled out Luis Diaz’s 34th minute strike for offside.
      The Merseysiders’ misery was compounded a mere two minutes later with Son Heung-Min fired Spurs into the lead.
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      The Professional Game Match Officials Limited acknowledged the clanger and have axed England from his VAR duties for today’s match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
      A statement read: “PGMOL can confirm the following match official appointment changes for the remaining fixtures in match round 7 in the Premier League.
      “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively.
      “Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”
      A disappointed Klopp said of the decision to rule out Diaz’s goal: “I don’t think there is anything to say about the offside goal.
      “I knew about it at half-time. In the first moment, I thought it was clearly onside but you think they have a better view.
      “I am pretty sure whoever made the decision didn’t do it on purpose. It didn’t take extremely long to come to the conclusion.
      “That’s a bit strange but someone else has to explain.
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      “The linesman thought it was worth watching again – that’s why he raised the flag.
      “In the good old times, the linesman should have seen it was not offside because we had these situations quite frequently and when you see it back it is pretty clear.”
      Darren England has been axed for his VAR gaffeCredit: REX More

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      Fans spot moment Spurs star Udogie should have been shown red card as litany of referee errors pile up after VAR debacle

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      IT gets worse for the refereeing team of last night’s match between Liverpool and Tottenham. That’s after fans spotted the moment they believe that Destiny Udogie should have been sent off for a second yellow card.
      Fans think Destiny Udogie should have been sent off against LiverpoolCredit: Alamy
      The Spurs star could be seen gesturing to the referee to issue Diogo Jota a bookingCredit: Sky Sports
      Simon Hooper had already shown Udogie a yellow card, and the gesture for another is a bookable offenceCredit: Alamy
      The Spurs full-back picked up a yellow card just before half time, but many fans think he should’ve received another in the second half.
      Eagle-eyed supporters have noticed that the Italian gestured towards referee Simon Hooper that Diogo Jota should’ve been put in the book.
      The action of asking for another player to be booked has been ruled out this season with a number of players already seeing yellow for the offence.
      A second yellow would have seen Udogie given his marching orders in a match where Liverpool spent over 25 minutes playing with just NINE men.
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      Fans are fuming with the revelation and took to social media to vent their frustrations at the officials.
      One said: “I have no words.”
      Whilst another added: “This is when you know the game is gone.”
      A third wrote: “Udogie second yellow for waving an imaginary card??”
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      And it’s not just the one incident that fans have been left fuming with after Curtis Jones was issued a straight red card in the first half for a contentious tackle.
      On top of that Liverpool had the ball in the back of the net from Luis Diaz in the 34th minute, only for VAR to fail to overrule an incorrect offside call.
      The PGMOL have now issued a statement apologising for their intervention with the Liverpool forward actually ONSIDE when he scored.
      The mistake was said to be a “human error” and has resulted in the VAR officials in charge being axed for their next games.
      To add insult to injury for Reds fans, Spurs walked away with all three points after Joel Matip turned the ball into his own net in the 96th minute to see the game end 2-1.
      Diogo Jota was sent off for two yellow card offencesCredit: Getty
      Curtis Jones also saw red for a controversial tackleCredit: Getty
      Luis Diaz was called offside, despite replays showing he was being played on by Cristian Romero
      Joel Matip turned the ball into his own net in the 96th minuteCredit: Getty
      Spurs celebrated remaining unbeaten in the league after their 2-1 winCredit: Alamy More

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      VAR refs AXED following Spurs vs Liverpool offside shambles with Darren England taken off upcoming Premier League game

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      DARREN ENGLAND has been AXED from his upcoming VAR duties following his howler in Tottenham’s controversial win over Liverpool.The 37-year-old ref incorrectly ruled out a perfectly fine goal from Reds hitman Luis Diaz in the first half of the match, which the Merseysiders lost 2-1.
      Luis Diaz thought he’d scored a perfectly fine goal in Liverpool’s trip to TottenhamCredit: Rex
      The goal was ruled out for offsideCredit: REX
      Replays clearly showed the Colombian was onside
      Darren England has been axed from his VAR duties for his howler of a callCredit: REX
      Colombia international Diaz thought he’d put the visitors in the lead in the 34th minute with a nifty finish just inside the 18-yard box.
      But on-the-field ref Simon Hooper and VAR official England bizarrely ruled out the goal – despite replays clearly showing Diaz was onside.
      And Prem chiefs have come down hard on VAR man for the day England, removing him from his duties for his next proposed outing.
      England was due to be the video official for this afternoon’s match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
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      But last night’s calamitous call has resulted in him being removed from his post.
      A statement read: “PGMOL can confirm the following match official appointment changes for the remaining fixtures in match round 7 in the Premier League.
      “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively.
      “Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”
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      The Professional Game Match Officials Limited acknowledged England and Hooper’s collective clanger shortly after the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tussle.
      And they vowed to conduct a “full” investigation into the outrageous call.
      “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool,” their apology read.
      “The goal by Luis 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.
      “PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”
      Kop chief Jurgen Klopp was left baffled by the decision to rule out Diaz’s goal, which was compounded two minutes later when Spurs’ Son Heung-Min broke the deadlock.
      The German said: “I don’t think there is anything to say about the offside goal.
      “I knew about it at half-time.
      “In the first moment, I thought it was clearly onside but you think they have a better view.
      “I am pretty sure whoever made the decision didn’t do it on purpose. It didn’t take extremely long to come to the conclusion.
      “That’s a bit strange but someone else has to explain.
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      “The linesman thought it was worth watching again – that’s why he raised the flag.
      “In the good old times, the linesman should have seen it was not offside because we had these situations quite frequently and when you see it back it is pretty clear.”
      Kop chief Jurgen Klopp was left baffled by the ruling out of Luis Diaz’s goalCredit: REX
      Son Heung-Min compounded Liverpool’s misery two minutes by firing Spurs aheadCredit: Reuters More

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      Jurgen Klopp’s explosive comments in full after Liverpool hit by VAR shambles as boss slams ‘most unfair’ game ever

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      JURGEN KLOPP has admitted it is “tough” to deal with the VAR shambles as he slammed three decisions in Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham.Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were sent off for the Reds with Klopp claiming both were unfairly dismissed.

      Jurgen Klopp fumed at several decisions during and after the matchCredit: Reuters
      But the Liverpool boss was most aggrieved with the decision to rule out Luis Diaz’s first-half strike for offside, which would have put his side 1-0 up.
      The PGMOL released an apology after the match admitting Diaz’s goal should have stood, blaming a “significant human error”.
      SunSport understands VAR Darren England clearly saw Diaz was ONSIDE but forgot what the on-field decision was.
      He then accidentally gave the “check complete” signal believing he was AWARDING Diaz’s goal when, in fact, he was allowing play to continue at 0-0.
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      When Klopp was asked about the incident before learning of the PGMOL’s apology, he said: “When we saw it, we thought ‘that’s not offside’. They drew the lines wrong.
      “It is so tough to deal with it. I’m now relatively calm, and during the game we were really calm. Your heart rate is 160-180… and you see that, and the red card and the next red card. It’s difficult.”
      He also criticised Diogo Jota’s dismissal and felt his side’s style of play did not warrant two red cards.
      He added: “How can Jota in this game go off the pitch with two yellow cards, the first he barely touched him and for sure not his fault.
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      “That is what is the problem. We have so many things. When did you last hear a game with 11 v 9? And we were close to 11v 8! There were no horrible fouls.
      “We were not kicking players or whatever. The boys made a super intense game of it, it is crazy how hard we fought. In the end we got nothing. The result is gone but the performance will stay with me forever. I loved our attitude and our desire.
      “They didn’t do it on purpose, I know that, but mistakes still happen. If we want to talk about it do it properly and not with creating headlines with emotional managers.”
      And the irate German was quick to dismiss the PGMOL’s eventual apology – insisting it does not help his side.
      He told a press conference: “Who does that help? We had that situation in the Man Utd game.
      Luis Diaz was wrongly deemed offside before scoring at Tottenham and VAR failed to intervene
      “Did Wolves get the points for it? We won’t get the points for it.
      “We all thought that when VAR came in it would make things easier.”
      Klopp felt just as strongly about the call to show Jones a red card for his tackle on Yves Bissouma.
      He claimed it was not a bad tackle, with Gary Neville also suggesting Jones was unfortunate to see red as he did not intend to slip over the ball.
      Klopp added: “I never saw a game like this with the most unfair circumstances, crazy decisions.
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      “We scored an own goal, that is really tough to take but I am really proud. The first red card, Curtis steps on the ball and goes over. Not a bad tackle.
      “It looks different in slow motion. He steps full throttle on the ball and goes over the ball. That is unlucky.” More

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      PGMOL statement in full as refs chiefs admit they WRONGLY ruled out Liverpool goal in VAR horror show vs Spurs

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      THE PGMOL have released a grovelling apology after admitting bungling VAR Darren England made a calamitous error during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Liverpool.With the score still 0-0, Liverpool star Luis Diaz was played through in the 34th minute before grabbing a goal, only for it to be ruled out as offside.
      Luis Diaz was ruled offside by the match officials in this incidentCredit: Sky Sports
      PGMOL later admitted to a ‘significant human error’Credit: Reuters
      PGMOL released a grovelling apology
      However, closer inspection of the incident showed the 26-year-old was actually being played onside by Cristian Romero.
      And it ended up being costly with nine-man Liverpool going on to lose the game 2-1 following a last-minute Joel Matip own goal.
      PGMOL have now admitted a “significant” mistake was made by VAR.
      SunSport understands VAR England clearly saw Diaz was ONSIDE but forgot what the on-field decision was.
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      He then accidentally gave the “check complete” signal believing he was AWARDING Diaz’s goal when, in fact, he was allowing play to continue at 0-0.
      Following the match the refereeing body released an apology.
      The statement read: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool.
      “The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
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      “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.
      “PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”
      It was not the only time the Reds were on the bad side of a call, with Curtis Jones being sent off in controversial fashion early on.
      Jurgen Klopp made his thoughts on the decisions clear after the match.
      He said: “I never saw a game like this with the most unfair circumstances, crazy decisions.
      “We scored an own goal, that is really tough to take but I am really proud. The first red card, Curtis steps on the ball and goes over. Not a bad tackle.
      “It looks different in slow motion. He steps full throttle on the ball and goes over the ball. That is unlucky.”
      Speaking before hearing the PGMOL’s explanation, he continued: “The offside goal. That is not offside when you see it, they drew their lines wrong.
      “It is so tough to deal with it.”
      After the refs chiefs’ statement, Klopp added: “We had that situation in the Man United game.
      “Did Wolves get the points for it? We won’t get the points for it.
      “We all thought that when VAR came in it would make things easier.”
      Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou sympathised with Klopp and revealed he had never been a huge fan of VAR.
      He said: “I’m on record saying I’ve never really been a fan of VAR. The biggest problem we seem to have trouble to grasp is that no amount of technology is going to eliminate errors.”
      The 2-1 result was Liverpool’s first Premier League defeat of the season.
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      Regardless, after an impressive start to the campaign they remain in fourth.
      Meanwhile, Spurs have moved up to second in the table with the win and are now just one point behind Manchester City, who fell to a shock 2-1 defeat against Wolves. More

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      Fans called for Spurs vs Liverpool to be replayed after VAR horror show as PGMOL apologise to Reds for huge error

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      FANS are demanding a replay of Tottenham vs Liverpool after the VAR Darren England’s disasterclass.On-field officials incorrectly ruled out a Luis Diaz strike for offside.
      An unofficial line drawn on the screen appears to show Diaz clearly onside
      The PGMOL released a statement after full-time confirming the ‘significant human error’
      VAR then somehow failed to intervene.
      SunSport understands England clearly saw Diaz was ONSIDE but forgot what the on-field decision was.
      He then accidentally gave the “check complete” signal believing he was AWARDING Diaz’s goal when, in fact, he was allowing play to continue at 0-0.
      The referee organisation admitted “significant human error”, with Liverpool fans enraged
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      Many supporters feel the apology is not good enough and they want the match to be replayed instead.
      One supporter reacted to the statement saying: “Game should be replayed. VAR to make sure there are no mistakes made in these games and they failed in giving a correct decision.”
      Another added: “I have very mixed feelings about what should happen with the dreadful refereeing decisions in the Tottenham-Liverpool match.
      “On hand I think the match should be replayed, too many game changing errors.
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      “If it was replayed I’d be outraged because I know that wouldn’t happen with us.”
      A third said: “Game should actually be replayed IMO.”
      To make matters worse for Liverpool Curtis Jones was controversially sent off, with Gary Neville and Jamie Redknapp both suggesting he was unfortunate to receive a red card after his foot slipped over the ball.
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      The PGMOL apologised for their mistake with a statement after the match.
      It read: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool.
      “The goal by Luis 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.
      “PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.” More