VAR Officials Suspended by Premier League During Liverpool vs. Tottenham Match

The refereeing body in the Premier League has suspended two of the VAR officials who were in charge of the game between Tottenham and Liverpool.

The match was played at White Hart Lane on Saturday, September 30, 2023, which Spurs won 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten run in the Premier League. There were a lot of controversial moments in the game, the first occurred when Curtis Jones was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Yves Bissouma following a VAR review.

The second incident happened when Liverpool thought they had taken the lead through Luis Diaz, but it was ruled out as an offside by the on-field assistant referee. VAR did not overrule the decision, despite replays showing the Colombian looked to be in an onside position when Mohamed Salah played the ball through.

PGMOL admitted the decision was a “clear and obvious factual error” and that a full review would be conducted. In the meantime, PGMOL has decided to take England off fourth official duty for Forest’s home game against Brentford, while assistant VAR official Dan Cook will not be involved as an assistant referee in Chelsea’s game against Fulham on Monday, October 2, 2023.

A statement was released by PGMOL after Liverpool’s defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and apologised to Jurgen Klopp’s side for the mistake.

“PGMOL acknowledges a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur vs. 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 immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”

The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp expressed his displeasure during his post-match press conference after the game.

He said,

“I was never more proud of the team than today. I never saw a game like this with the most unfair circumstances, crazy decisions. 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. For Diogo Jota] first yellow was not a yellow. Then he gets a second and to defend with nine players is tricky. You want to build something you need players with mentality and I saw them today, they fought. Pretty special tonight.”

Liverpool are currently placed in fourth place with 16 points after seven games. The Reds face Brighton next in their Premier League game on Sunday, October 8, 2023.