VAR officials who made Liverpool error took charge of UAE match just 48 hours before
Questions have been raised within the game over whether the VAR team at fault for a major error in Tottenham’s win against Liverpool on Saturday night were fatigued. It has emerged that VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook had made a six-hour flight from the United Arab Emirates the day before, after taking charge of a league game between Al Ain and Sharjah in the UAE Pro League on Thursday night. VAR England and assistant Cook made a “significant human error” when they failed to overturn Luis Diaz’s wrongly disallowed goal in the first half of Tottenham’s 2-1 win. Both referees have since been stood down for Sunday afternoon’s match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford as well as Monday night’s game between Fulham and Chelsea. The referees’ body the PGMOL have put the error for Diaz’s offside down to a “momentary lapse of concentration”, and questions have now been raised within the Premier League over whether workload fatigue played a part. A flight between London and the UAE takes at least six hours, with the officiating team of Michael Oliver, England and Cook only arriving back on Friday. A variety of sources have pointed to how teams in the Europa League don’t play until Sunday after a Thursday evening game. Officials who work in those same continental fixtures are usually fourth officials or VAR on Saturdays and on-field from Sunday, but that generally comes after much shorter travel than a trip to the Gulf. The explanation so far put forth for the error is that the VAR for the Liverpool game thought they were checking whether Diaz’s goal should stand rather than whether it was offside, which is what on-field referee Simon Hooper had actually ruled. That created the farcical situation of a "check complete" communication leading to a fair strike being ruled out in completely preventable fashion. What is not clear, however, is when the VAR officials realised that they had failed to intervene. Under the rules of the game, when Tottenham took the free kick to restart the match, the officials would have been unable to go back and award Diaz’s goal. It has since been confirmed that Oliver, Cook and England were involved in officiating in the UAE in midweek. An approach had been made to the Football Association and was subsequently approved by PGMOL chief Howard Webb, with it not affecting their availability to be selected for Premier League fixtures. Webb has since got in touch with Liverpool to apologise for the decision, as has become protocol. Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error. “Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) statement. “We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on [the] field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier. “I don’t know why the people... are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick, I would say, for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is.” Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher reacted to the decision on Twitter/X and said: “It’s an horrendous mistake no matter how they did it. But if they knew just after the Spurs free-kick was taken that they’d made a huge mistake, it’s nonsense they can’t bring it back just because a free-kick has been taken.” Read More Bizarre reason why Liverpool goal wrongly ruled out by VAR revealed VAR officials who missed Liverpool’s ‘onside’ goal to be replaced PGMOL admit Liverpool offside goal should have stood after ‘significant human error’ VAR officials who missed Liverpool’s ‘onside’ goal to be replaced Bizarre reason why Liverpool goal wrongly ruled out by VAR revealed PGMOL admit Liverpool goal should have stood after ‘significant error’
2023-10-01 20:55
Ole Miss Security Guard Levels Young Woman Running Onto Field After Win Over LSU
An Ole Miss security guard elbowed a coed who tried to run onto the field.
2023-10-01 20:19
Aston Villa vs Manchester United LIVE: Women's Super League latest score, goals and updates from fixture
Follow live coverage as Aston Villa face Manchester United in the Women’s Super League today. Last season it was Chelsea who again took the WSL title, just edging out Manchester United, while Arsenal and Manchester City are expected to be contenders in 2023/24 too. Relegated Reading have been replaced by Bristol City after they won the Championship title by a single point last term, while the likes of Liverpool, Everton and West Ham will hope for continued progression this year too. On the back of the Lionesses’ magnificent runs at Euro 2022 and the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the women’s game continues to go from strength to strength with increasing crowds and exciting new signings from overseas. Follow live updates from today’s game in the live blog below.
2023-10-01 19:57
Who is playing Sunday Night Football, Week 4?
After a classic rivalry took the Sunday night stage in Week 3, which two teams are set to play on NBC in Week 4?
2023-10-01 19:23
Wataru Endo hails Liverpool spirit despite ‘difficult decisions’
Wataru Endo was disappointed but proud of the way nine-man Liverpool fought in the face of “difficult decisions” during the last-gasp defeat at Tottenham. Jurgen Klopp’s men saw their unbeaten start to the Premier League season end in north London as Joel Matip’s own goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time gave Spurs a 2-1 win. Liverpool had gone so close to a point after seeing Curtis Jones’ booking upgraded to red midway through the first half after his challenge was reviewed by VAR. Son Heung-min soon broke the deadlock only for the Reds to equalise through Cody Gakpo, whose half-time replacement Diogo Jota was sent off in the 69th minute for two yellows. But the main talking point was how Luis Diaz’s opener was wrongly ruled out for offside due to what the Professional Game Match Officials Limited called a “significant human error” by VAR Darren England. Summer signing Endo, who came on with Liverpool reduced to nine men, said: “At the end, a very tough game but there were 50-50 decisions in the game and yeah, it’s very difficult to play with nine players. “But I wanted to get one point so I am very disappointed about it. “I am just so proud of this team. I am just disappointed. “We have to learn from this result and of course we showed our spirit, even though we faced difficult decisions we fought until the end. “That’s Liverpool and always we have to try to win the game. We can learn from this game but we just keep going.” Liverpool will look to bounce back from their first Premier League defeat of the season at Brighton next Sunday before attention turns to international matches. Matip will be particularly desperate to win after his late own goal in the capital, but Endo says nobody in the dressing room is blaming the defender. “Actually, he played an amazing game today so no-one can say something to him,” he told the club website. “I am so proud of what he did today and I am so proud of what my team-mates did today.” Liverpool have a Europa League group match against Union Saint-Gilloise before heading to Brighton, but there are no continental distractions for Spurs this year. Tottenham missed out on European qualification in a poor 2022-23 campaign but have been reborn under Ange Postecoglou, with his new-look side second in the standings. “It was an important moment,” goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario said. “We were level, then we scored. We deserved this win all together. “We have to enjoy this moment, to rest then keep going because we have another challenge next week (at Luton) and then the international break. “We have to be focused and to prepare the best game by game. “This has to be our goal throughout the season – keep going, keep working.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live United States needing a ‘miracle’ as final day of the Ryder Cup gets under way Ryder Cup live – Europe look to finish the job in Rome Mason Mount aware Man Utd must improve after stuttering start to the season
2023-10-01 18:47
NFL Week 4: Who is Playing on Sunday Night Football?
Last week's Sunday Night Football featured some dubious calls and confounding strategy by Josh McDaniels as the Pittsburgh Steelers hung on to beat the Las Vega
2023-10-01 18:29
Officials stood down after offside error in Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham
The match officials at the heart of the “significant human error” which saw Liverpool wrongly denied a goal in Saturday’s defeat to Tottenham have been stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend. Darren England was due to be fourth official at Sunday’s Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Dan Cook was to be assistant referee for Monday’s west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea. But the Professional Game Match Officials Limited announced on Sunday morning that England, who was VAR for Saturday’s game at Tottenham, has been replaced by Craig Pawson, while Eddie Smart will step in for Cook, who was the assistant VAR to England. “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively,” a PGMOL statement said. “Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.” On Saturday, PGMOL admitted the pair had failed to act after Luis Diaz’s 34th-minute strike was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Still images of the incident showed Cristian Romero play Diaz onside. The disallowed goal came with the match still at 0-0 but after Curtis Jones had been controversially sent off following England’s intervention. Son Heung-min put Spurs in front moments after Diaz’s goal was disallowed, and although Cody Gakpo levelled, Tottenham went on to win 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip, with Liverpool finishing with nine men after Diogo Jota also saw red. In a statement on Saturday, PGMOL said: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. “The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. “This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene. “PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.”
2023-10-01 17:55
VAR officials who missed Liverpool’s ‘onside’ goal to be replaced
The VAR officials who failed to intervene when Liverpool had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside in their defeat to Tottenham have been stood down from the rest of this weekend’s fixtures. VAR Darren England and assistant Dan Cook have been replaced for this afternoon’s match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford as well as Monday night’s game between Fulham and Chelsea. The VAR team failed to overturn Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal, despite the Liverpool forward clearly being onside, while the referees’ body admitted after the match that a “significant human error” had been made. Howard Webb also spoke to Liverpool after the match and there was an apology from the referees’ chief. It has been revealed that Diaz’s goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside because the VAR checking the decision mistakenly thought that the on-field decision was onside. It has emerged that VAR lead official England drew the lines to check for offside and followed the process correctly to determine Diaz was onside for the goal. But in reaching their decision, the VAR team failed to realise that on-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistant officials had initially ruled the goal out for offside. Therefore, when the VAR relayed a message of “check complete” to the on-field referee, Hooper and his team disallowed Diaz’s goal and awarded a free-kick to Tottenham. What is not clear, however, is when the VAR officials realised that they had failed to intervene. Under the rules of the game, when Tottenham took the free-kick to restart the match, the officials would have been unable to go back and award Diaz’s goal. Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error. "Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL statement. "We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier. "I don’t know why the people...are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is." Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher reacted to the decision on Twitter/X and said: "It’s an horrendous mistake no matter how they did it. But if they knew just after the Spurs free-kick was taken that they’d made a huge mistake, it’s nonsense they can’t bring it back just because a free-kick has been taken." Includes reporting from PA Read More Bizarre reason why Liverpool goal wrongly ruled out by VAR revealed Tottenham take their moment of fortune as Liverpool are left with only fury and frustration PGMOL admit Liverpool offside goal should have stood after ‘significant human error’
2023-10-01 17:54
Bizarre reason why Liverpool goal wrongly ruled out by VAR revealed
Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham was incorrectly ruled out for offside because the VAR checking the decision mistakenly thought that the on-field decision was onside. The referees’ body, PGMOL, admitted after the match that a “significant human error” was made when checking Diaz’s goal, which came in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Spurs. The Independent also understands Howard Webb spoke to Liverpool after the match and there was an apology from the referees’ chief. It has now been revealed, however, that VAR official Darren England drew the lines to check for offside and followed the process correctly to determine Diaz was onside for the goal. But in reaching their decision, the VAR team failed to realise that on-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistant officials had initially ruled the goal out for offside. Therefore, when the VAR relayed a message of “check complete” to the on-field referee, Hooper and his team disallowed Diaz’s goal and awarded a free-kick to Tottenham. What is not clear is when the VAR officials realised that they had failed to intervene. Under the rules of the game, when Tottenham took the free-kick to restart the match, the officials would have been unable to go back and award Diaz’s goal. Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error. "Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL statement. "We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier. "I don’t know why the people...are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is." Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher reacted to the decision on Twitter/X and said: "It’s an horrendous mistake no matter how they did it. But if they knew just after the Spurs free-kick was taken that they’d made a huge mistake, it’s nonsense they can’t bring it back just because a free-kick has been taken." Includes reporting from PA Read More VAR officials who missed Liverpool’s ‘onside’ goal to be replaced PGMOL admit Liverpool offside goal should have stood after ‘significant human error’ Tottenham take their moment of fortune as Liverpool are left with only fury and frustration
2023-10-01 17:51
Mason Mount aware Man Utd must improve after stuttering start to the season
Manchester United midfielder Mason Mount admits his side need a clear improvement after suffering their worst start to a Premier League season. Not since the 1989-90 campaign, when Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly one game away from the sack, have United lost four of their first seven league fixtures. But Joachim Andersen’s first-half goal for Palace inflicted the same fate on the current crop, which left the Old Trafford faithful booing at the end. Mount, who made his Premier League return after six weeks out with injury, says United must get better. “We know we need to win these games and it’s been a difficult start,” the England international told the club’s website. “As soon as they got the goal, they defended really well, they got bodies behind the ball and made it difficult to create. We had a few chances but it wasn’t enough. “We know we need to go back and look at the areas that we need to improve on – and we need to improve because we want to win games, we want to win every competition we’re in, we want to go right to the end. So it’s a tough one to take. “It was a tough start with the injury and a frustrating one but I used that time to look at areas where I could improve and coming back in the team last game, it felt good. “But you don’t want to lose games and, especially at home with the fans, we want to perform for them and win games for them. And yeah, we need to improve. We need to go away and look at some areas that just weren’t there. “But there are games coming thick and fast now. Every three days we’re playing in different competitions and this is a new start. The Champions League at home under the lights – it’s an exciting one to play in and hopefully we can perform and win that game now.” Andersen’s brilliant goal – a sweet first-time finish at the back post from an Eberechi Eze set-piece – proved enough for Palace to earn revenge for their Carabao Cup defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the week. And he enjoyed his match-winning moment. “That goal, for me personally, is something I’ll remember,” Andersen told the club’s official website. “It’s something that I need to improve on. I need to score more goals because I’m capable of scoring goals. I have the desire to score. I think I have a pretty good strike actually. I know I’m capable of scoring goals. “It was a good cross from Ebs and I just felt that someone would get a touch and I just sensed where the ball would fall, like a good striker would do, and I hit it really well. Amazing goal.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On This Day in 2009 – Emmanuel Adebayor fined for celebration against Arsenal Ryder Cup day three: Europe aim to seal victory with dominant display in singles Gregor Townsend hails Scotland for keeping World Cup bid alive after early loss
2023-10-01 16:15
College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 6 AP Top 25 after Georgia and ND avoid upset, LSU and Utah fall
The college football rankings going into Week 6 got a shake-up thanks to upsets of LSU and Utah, but Georgia managed to avoid a drop...for now.
2023-10-01 13:46
On This Day in 2009 – Emmanuel Adebayor fined for celebration against Arsenal
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was fined £25,000 and handed a suspended two-match ban by the Football Association for his celebration against former club Arsenal on this day in 2009. Adebayor was punished after he ran the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of visiting Gunners supporters after he scored in the 80th minute of a Premier League match. The then 25-year-old had already served a three-match suspension for violent conduct in a separate incident during the 4-2 victory at Eastlands on September 12. https://x.com/ManCity/status/1701543676080783846?s=20 The Togo international appeared at Wembley and admitted a charge of improper conduct at a FA regulatory commission hearing. Adebayor’s acceptance of his behaviour was taken into account, but also the conduct of Arsenal supporters, who were also criticised for their personal abuse of Adebayor following his departure from the club the previous summer transfer window in a £25million deal. “In reaching its decision the commission took into account his admission of the charge, public apology and the extremely provocative nature of the abuse he received,” read a statement from the FA. “However, the commission also stated that players have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a proper manner and that such celebrations are unacceptable and have the potential to cause a serious public order incident.” Adebayor went on to play for Real Madrid before switching to Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham in August 2012 following a loan spell. His Premier League career continued with Crystal Palace before stints in Turkey at Basaksehir and Kayserispor, and he finished playing at Paraguayan Primera Division outfit Olimpia Asuncion. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live
2023-10-01 13:15