Under-pressure officials Darren England and Dan Cook have been dropped from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures following their catastrophic error during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday evening.
The duo have been axed by the referees’ body PGMOL from top-flight duty after they incorrectly disallowed Luis Diaz’s opener for offside, with the Liverpool forward clearly played on by the outstretched leg of Tottenham’s Cristian Romero.
At the time of the incident, VAR England and assistant Cook mistakenly thought the on-field decision was onside, so did not correct the blunder.
The incredulity of the decision has enraged Liverpool since – with the Merseyside outfit demanding that the PGMOL release the audio which led to that monumental error.
And with the saga ongoing, the PGMOL have made the decision to take England and Cook out of the firing line for the final round of Premier League fixtures before this month’s international break – which includes Arsenal versus Manchester City on Sunday as the standout encounter.
PGMOL have confirmed that officials Darren England (left) and Dan Cook (right) have been dropped from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures after their blunder on September 30
While Liverpool may be pleased with that outcome, it won’t appease them.
Following the Reds’ demands to release the audio, there is a split among senior figures at the PGMOL to do so.
They are also reviewing their policy on referees working abroad, with England and Cook having officiated a match in the UAE just 48 hours before the gaffe.
Top-flight clubs are putting pressure on PGMOL to scrap the overseas jobs , claiming it undermines the competition.
The PGMOL admitted immediately after Spurs’ 2-1 win that ‘a significant human error occurred ‘ when the Colombian’s goal was ruled out.
It added: ‘This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention.’
Liverpool vowed to explore the range of options available – without naming any possible approaches – in a statement on Sunday night, with the club saying it had a clear need for escalation and resolution of the controversial decision.
Liverpool’s strongly-worded statement insisted that ‘unacceptable’ mistakes had been made in failing to award the goal.
‘Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
‘We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
And it appears the first step is to ask the referee’s body PGMOL to give them access to the audio recording of the conversations that took place between on-pitch referee Hooper and the team in the VAR booth at Stockley Park.
PGMOL were contacted for comment.