Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, believed his side’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham should be replayed after VAR failed to intervene when Luis Diaz’s ‘goal’ was ruled out.
Klopp made the extraordinary claim on Wednesday during his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League meeting with Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield.
“As a football person, I think the outcome should be a replay,” the German coach said.
“The audio didn’t change it at all. It’s important that we deal with it in a proper way. They didn’t do it on purpose, we should not forget that,” he added.
Video assistant referee (VAR) Darren England failed to overturn an incorrect on-field decision to rule out a Luis Diaz ‘goal’ during Liverpool’s match against Spurs on Saturday. The incident occurred when the match was scoreless and Liverpool went on to lose 2-1.
PGMOL provided Liverpool with an audio recording of the communication between the on-field officials and the VARs, before publishing the recording publicly.
The recording shows that England carried out a check of the goal, but mistakenly believed that the on-field decision had been ‘goal’. It was only after he told referee Simon Hooper that the check was complete and play resumed that he realised that him saying “check complete” had upheld the incorrect offside call.
PGMOL put the mistake down to ‘a significant human error’. Liverpool published a statement saying that the sporting integrity of the game had been undermined and that the club would “explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
Both England and assistant VAR Dan Cook were stood down from the officiating duties they were scheduled to carry out on Sunday and Monday, and neither will be involved in any matches this coming weekend.
