PGMOL Releases VAR Audio Of Luis Diaz Offside Error In Tottenham Match Against Liverpool

Referees’ body, PGMOL, has released VAR audio relating to the Luis Diaz goal that was wrongly disallowed in the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool on Saturday and have sanctioned the VAR officials.

After the game, VAR officials came under pressure for their mistakes of incorrectly ruling out Diaz goal during Liverpool’s loss at Tottenham.

Shortly after the game, PGMOL acknowledged in a statement that a “significant human error had occurred during the aforementioned match, which we recognise should have resulted in a goal being awarded through VAR intervention.”

Liverpool officially demanded the recording on Monday while their request for the audio was granted on Tuesday.

In the recording, the Assistant Referee 1 is heard saying “All good. Both holding” while the referee said yeah, leave it alone.” The Assistant 1 continued, “Coming back for the offside, mate.” The VAR said “just checking the offside. Delay, delay.”

The VAR operator is heard saying after play restarted, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, the on-field decision was ‘offside’, are you happy with this?” The Assistant VAR said, “That’s wrong that, Daz.”

Oli Kohout, the VAR Hub Operations Executive, called in to order officials to delay the game to correct their decision but VAR replied, “Can’t do anything.”

PGMOL said it can confirm that they have made a review into the circumstances which led to the Luis Diaz goal being incorrectly disallowed for offside in the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC.

PGMOL said a detailed report, including the key learnings and immediate actions taken, alongside the audio between the on-field officials and VAR team has been submitted to the Premier League, who have shared it with Liverpool FC and subsequently all other Premier League Clubs.

PGMOL said, “The review of the on-field and VAR decision-making processes and application of the decision-making principles has identified the following key learnings to mitigate against the risk of a future error: – Guidance to Video Match Officials has always emphasised the need for efficiency, but never at the expense of accuracy. This principle will be clearly reiterated.

“A new VAR Communication Protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions.

“As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials.

“PGMOL are committed to enhancing VAR performance through a new training programme which started this season and focuses on process and best practice for all VARs, AVARs and Replay Operators in their specific roles. While we have a number of FIFA-recognised VARs, work is ongoing to create a dedicated pool of VAR specialists.

“The VAR and AVAR in question were removed from their remaining fixtures in Match Round 7 in the Premier League and have not been included in the appointments for Match Round 8 this weekend. PGMOL and the FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”