In a recent Premier League match, referee Darren England faced an unfortunate incident leading to his removal from duty. During the game between Tottenham and Liverpool, a VAR error occurred that significantly impacted Liverpool’s outcome. Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly ruled offside, denying Liverpool a crucial opportunity to score.
This mistake prompted a decision to relieve Darren England of his duties due to the perceived gravity of the error. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acknowledged the error, terming it a “significant human error” that led to the disallowed goal. Consequently, England was replaced for the subsequent two Premier League games, highlighting the severity of the incident.
The incident in question occurred during Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham, where Luis Diaz was wrongly judged to be offside, resulting in a disallowed goal. The match referee, Simon Hooper, and VAR official Darren England played pivotal roles in this unfortunate event. Despite Diaz being seemingly onside as indicated by the drawn lines, Hooper and England deemed him offside, leading to the disallowed goal.
As a consequence of this erroneous decision, Liverpool faced a setback in the match, ultimately losing to Heung-min Son’s goal in the first half. Curtis Jones’ red card further exacerbated their situation, leaving them with nine men on the field. Cody Gakpo managed to equalize just before halftime, but Liverpool’s fate was sealed when Joel Matip scored an own goal in added time.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation, referencing a similar incident involving Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United. He highlighted the need for collective efforts to ensure better decision-making in football, emphasizing that mistakes, although unintentional, still adversely affect the game.
In response to the incident, the PGMOL issued a statement acknowledging the error and announcing the replacement of Darren England for subsequent matches. The statement emphasized the importance of accurate officiating and underlined the need for continued efforts to improve the refereeing system to prevent such errors in the future.
