After the scandal over a disallowed goal
Liverpool demands release of referee communications
October 3, 2023, 1:11 p.m
Liverpool FC wants to examine “all available options” because of the serious referee error in the Premier League game against Liverpool. According to media reports, a first measure is a demand from the referee association. He should publish the communication from the referees.
According to media reports, Liverpool FC has submitted a formal application to the responsible referee association PGMOL because of the serious video evidence glitch in the defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. The Reds therefore want the audio recordings of the video referee. This was reported by, among others, the “Liverpool Echo” and the BBC as well as the portal “The Athletic”. In an official statement from the Reds, the club had previously questioned the “integrity of the sport” and announced that it would explore “all available options”.
In the game at Spurs, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz’s supposed opening goal in the 34th minute was wrongly disallowed for offside. The responsible referee association PGMOL then admitted that this had been a “significant human error”.
The video referee thought that referee Simon Hooper had assessed Luis Diaz’s goal as valid on the pitch and therefore did not intervene. The referees in the stadium saw their actual offside decision confirmed. The scene fueled the debate about video evidence in English football. The affected video referees have been withdrawn from further assignments for the time being.
Liverpool FC emphasized that classifying the breakdown as a human error was “unacceptable”. There must be an investigation into the events “with full transparency”. This is of great importance for the future decision-making process, which will affect all clubs. “Lessons must be learned to improve processes to ensure that situations like this can never happen again,” the club statement continued.
Coach Jürgen Klopp said immediately after the game that it had been the “most unfair circumstances and craziest decisions”. In addition to the incorrectly disallowed goal, his team also received two dismissals. Liverpool lost the game 1-2. The media response was also clear. The “Guardians” for example had summed up: “It is absurd that large parts of the strenuous VAR debate can be boiled down to the fact that there is a fundamental lack of competence.”