1st October, 2023
The VAR officials who blundered in nine-man Liverpool’s controversial defeat to Tottenham have been stood down.
Darren England was due to be the fourth official in today’s clash between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Dan Cook was to be an assistant referee for Chelsea’s short trip to Fulham tomorrow evening.
But the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) announced on Sunday morning that England has been replaced by Craig Pawson, while Eddie Smart will step in for Cook.
A PGMOL statement said. “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest vs Brentford and Fulham vs 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.”
On Saturday, PGMOL admitted the pair had failed to act after Luis Diaz’s 34th-minute strike was incorrectly ruled out for offside with the game still at 0-0.
Still images of the incident showed Cristian Romero play Diaz onside.
In a statement on Saturday, PGMOL said: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v 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.”