Liverpool - Tottenham VAR audio released: 'Oh f**k'

The VAR system, created in order to help the game, leave out human errors or prevent ‘hand-goals’ like Maradona’s against England or Henry’s against Ireland, is currently being destroyed by the same people for which it was invented – referees. Even now, when there is enough video evidence to overturn the wrong decision, they still somehow make it worse, and unlike, for example, American football (NFL), in soccer (especially in England), every week there is some controversy. Liverpool against Tottenham is the latest example, and after another blunder, English referee chiefs have made public the VAR audio of the decision that led to Liverpool forward Luis Diaz having a goal wrongly disallowed in the Reds' controversial defeat at Tottenham.

VAR official Darren England and his assistant (AVAR) Daniel Cook did not over-rule the incorrect on-field decision of offside after Diaz had scored what would have been the opening of Saturday's Premier League clash in north London. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1 and had Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota sent off as their unbeaten start to the season ended. Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) released a statement admitting a "significant human error" had led to the wrong decision being made. PGMOL has provided a detailed report alongside the audio to the Premier League, which has, in turn shared with Liverpool and the other 19 top-flight clubs.

VAR will bring justice, they said. Will eliminate human mistakes, they said...

The audio reveals the conversation between the VAR officials, who only realize their error after the match has restarted. The VAR operator is heard to say after play wrongly restarted, 'Wait, wait, wait, wait, the on-field decision was 'offside', are you happy with this? That's wrong that, Daz (Darren England, VAR)', to which England sighs and swears, shouting 'Oh f***'. Oli Kohout, the VAR Hub Operations Executive, called in to order officials to delay the game and right their wrong, but England bluntly replied, 'Can't do anything' and the game restarted with a Tottenham free-kick. 'I can't do anything’.

Liverpool will not let this go that easy

The referee's body said in a statement on Tuesday that "standards fell short of expectations" and it has identified three key learnings "to mitigate against the risk of a future error". They will stress the importance of accuracy ahead of efficiency to video match officials, while a "new VAR communication protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions".

"As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials. We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture" the statement said. England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend's Premier League fixtures. The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their match week seven duties.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 2

Tuesday

Union Berlin - Braga 2-3(2-1)

/Becker 30, 37 - Niakate 41, Bruma 51, Castro 90+3/

Salzburg - Sociedad 0-2 (0-2)

/Oyarzabal 7, Mendez 27/

Copenhagen - Bayern 1-2 (0-0)

/Lerager 55 - Musiala 67, Tel 83/

Man.Utd. - Galatasaray 2-3 (1-1)

/Hojlund 17, 67 - Zaha 23, Akturkoglu 72, Icardi 81/

Lens - Arsenal 2-1 (1-1)

/Thomasson 25, Wahi 69 - Jesus 14/

PSV - Sevilla 2-2 (0-0)

/De Joong (p) 86, Teze 90+5 - Gudelj 68, El-Nesyri 87/

Napoli - Real Madrid 2-3 (1-2)

/Ostigard 19, Zielinski 54(p) - Vinicius 27, Bellingham 34, Meret 78/

Inter - Benfica 1-0 (0-0)

/Thuram 62/

Wednesday

19:45: (1.63) Atl.Madrid (4.00) Feyenoord (6.25)

19:45: (1.90) Antwerp (3.70) Shakhtar (4.40)

22:00: (3.00) Celtic (3.50) Lazio (2.45)

22:00: (2.40) Dortmund (3.50) Milan (3.05)

22:00: (2.50) Newcastle (3.60) PSG (2.90)

22:00: (2.20) Crvena Zvezda (3.50) Young Boys (3.45)

22:00: (5.40) RB Leipzig (4.10) Man.City (1.67)

22:00: (4.20) Porto (3.60) Barcelona (1.95)

***odds are subject to change***