PGMOL announced referees' communication after L. Diaz's disallowed goal

2023-10-04 09:07 © Action Images via Reuters

During the match between London's Tottenham and Liverpool last weekend, a very serious mistake by the referee team was recorded.

In the middle of the first half, Liverpool's player Luis Diaz scored a goal, but the assistant referee flagged for offside. After a VAR review, this decision was confirmed.

However, it soon became clear that L. Diaz was not offside, and the referee team had made an incorrect decision.

As it was later revealed, the VAR referee was convinced that the goal was valid, so after checking that there was no offside, he simply said "check completed." Since the decision was still offside, the referee restarted the game with a free kick.

The Liverpool club quickly reacted to this error and demanded to release a video recording that would show the referees' communication.

Such a request was heard, and on Tuesday, the PGMOL (referees' association) shared a video recording where all referee communications were audible.

In the recording, it is heard that the VAR referee did see that there was no offside for L. Diaz and simply confirmed the decision with the phrase "check completed." This phrase in VAR communication means that the decision made on the field is correct.

In the video recording, it is also heard that as soon as the game resumed, the VAR operator (the person who selects video replays for the VAR referees) seemed surprised to see that the goal was disallowed. It is important to understand that the VAR operator can only communicate with the VAR referees in the VAR room and does not have direct communication with the on-field referees.

Later, confusion is heard in the VAR room. However, according to the rules, once the game resumes, the decision cannot be changed.

🚨 @PremierLeague release official VAR audio from Luis Diaz's disallowed goal vs Tottenham.

Full statement: https://t.co/buvq5mG2q3 pic.twitter.com/a8zjGgcOCO

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 3, 2023