Liverpool and Tottenham’s September 30th matchup ended with the Reds losing their first match of the Premier League season 1-2. Losing to the top team in the table would usually be chalked up to a difficult game, but numerous VAR (Video Assistant Referee) mishaps led to conversations concerning whether the match was potentially rigged and how the current refereeing system is in desperate need of a revamp.
Most controversially, a goal scored by Liverpool forward Luis Diaz was deemed offside and not counted in the final score. However, the replays clearly showed Diaz to be onside, and the VAR supported an onside decision, suggesting that the goal should stand.
Initially, the on-field decision ruled the goal offside. Yet,VAR official Darren England mistakenly believed that the initial on-field decision was onside, as the player was clearly onside.
Thinking that he was just reaffirming the on-field official’s decision, England reported to the center referee that his decision, thought by England to be onside, was correct; yet, due to the miscommunication, the on-field official received the decision as stating that Diaz was offside, and the goal was disallowed.
Under Premier League rules, a decision cannot be reviewed after play has restarted, and Tottenham smartly took a quick free-kick before more discussion could be made between the referees. The VAR team realized the error very quickly, just seconds after play restarted, and began to panic. They decided that instead of fairness and breaking the rule of changing a decision after play resumed, they reaffirmed their protocol and followed the rules to a T, not allowing the goal.
Many pundits, players, and fans were infuriated by the incompetence of the Premier League officiating– this decision was crucial to the match result, which in turn significantly affected the league standings. This match alone could also have broader impacts on the season– imagine if Liverpool loses the Premier League title by a point or two just because of this game.
Liverpool also felt they received an unjust second red card through a pair of soft yellow cards called against Diogo Jota. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp requested a replay of the match following the obvious officiating mistake. Without the series of suspicious decisions by referee Simon Hooper and the VAR officials, Liverpool would undoubtedly be first in the Premier League standings right now.
This is not the first occasion in which the VAR team has blundered terribly– just last season, Arsenal tied Brentford after Ivan Toney levelled the game for Brentford through an offside goal. In that instance, VAR was too busy making one incorrect offside decision that they forgot to draw the lines in the pass that led to the goal. At that stage of the season, the incorrect decision was a crucial blow in Arsenal’s title race.
With this accumulation of human VAR errors, broader implications can be made. Almost all the VAR refereeing mistakes have favored one team through sabotaging their rivals: Manchester City. These refereeing mistakes could have been genuine human errors, but many speculate that there is underlying corruption influencing these decisions.
