Tottenham-Liverpool VAR ‘officiated in UAE’ just ’48 hours’ before making glaring Diaz goal error | OneFootball

Darren England is at the centre of a VAR storm after his blunder cost Liverpool.

Darren England and Dan Cook – the VAR officials for Tottenham versus Liverpool – ‘officiated in the United Arab Emirates just 48 hours earlier’.

Liverpool went down to ten men after 26 minutes against Spurs as Curtis Jones was sent off. The midfielder was originally booked for his challenge on Yves Bissouma but this decision was overturned by VAR.

Despite this, Liverpool looked to have taken the lead through Luis Diaz. The attacker converted after being set up by Mo Salah but he was flagged for being offside.

Replays showed Diaz was narrowly onside but this decision was not corrected by the VAR officials.

Liverpool – who later had Diogo Jota sent off for two bookings – went on to lose the game 2-1. An own goal from Joel Matip late on settled the game in Tottenham’s favour.

The PGMOL later admitted that Diaz’s goal had been ruled out as a result of a “significant human error”.

Their 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.”

“PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of this fixture to acknowledge the error.”

It has since been confirmed that England and Cook have been stepped down after they were due to be involved in Sunday’s Premier League game between Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

The Times are now reporting that ‘England and Cook were part of a refereeing team that officiated in the United Arab Emirates just 48 hours earlier’. The report explains.