After an apparent VAR error in Liverpool FC’s game at Tottenham Hotspur, English football is debating the quality of its referees. It is becoming more and more obvious: it is not the technology that is the problem – but the people.
The two men who have been at the center of a hysterical debate in English football since Saturday evening have been given a break. Darren England and Dan Cook were actually supposed to be back in action in the Premier League on Sunday and Monday, but the English referee organization PGMOL withdrew them at short notice.
They will not be in action next weekend either. The reason for this is that they made a “significant human error,” as the PGMOL put it, in the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC (2-1).
Regular goal not given
That error was when England and Cook, as video referees, failed to correct a decision made by lead referee Simon Hooper. After half an hour, Hooper had Liverpool striker Luis Díaz’s goal supposedly making it 1-0 disallowed for offside. The slow motion clearly showed that Díaz was not in the forbidden zone when Mohamed Salah passed.
The two video referees probably also came to this conclusion. However, they apparently believed that Hooper had decided to score anyway – which is why they refrained from intervening. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late. The game was on again.
Liverpool is considering legal action
The referee organization PGMOL, led by the former world-class referee Howard Webb, announced a reappraisal. Liverpool FC is considering legal action against the scoring of the game and has pushed for the release of the audio recordings of the communication between the video referees and the on-field referee. On Tuesday (October 3rd, 2023) the referees’ association published these recordings.
Ex-professionals, ex-referees and the media are outdoing themselves with advice on how to avoid such mistakes in the future. The ideas range from abolishing VAR in the Premier League (not realistic) to introducing a semi-automatic offside system (not conceivable until the new season at the earliest) to better training and pay for referees (seems to be the most effective).
PGMOL says “important lessons” have been learned “to reduce the risk of a future error”. Accuracy will take precedence over efficiency in the future, and a new VAR protocol will be developed to improve the clarity of communication between referees.
Long list of errors
The excitement is particularly great because the error was not an isolated incident, but just the most spectacular in a long list of VAR failures in the Premier League. The PGMOL communications department has become quite routine in issuing public admissions and apologies.
There were two notable incidents in February. A goal by Brentford striker Ivan Toney against Arsenal FC was incorrectly counted because the video referee watched the wrong sequence. Brighton & Hove Albion were denied a goal in regulation against Crystal Palace because the video referee incorrectly marked the offside lines. On the first matchday of the current season, VAR denied Wolverhampton Wanderers a clear penalty in stoppage time at Manchester United.
Experts speak out
After the weekend’s mistake, the English public’s patience with the video referee seems to have run out. “I don’t think sentiment around VAR has ever been lower“, said former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher. He interpreted the current events as a “crisis point” for the video referee in England: a point at which things cannot simply continue as before.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp advocates a fundamental debate about the technical assistance tool: “If you want to talk about it, you have to do it right“, he said after the Tottenham game and showed unusual solidarity with referee Hooper and his video assistants: “We can’t just say: Stop making mistakes! Mistakes happen.“
Klopp thus reached exactly one of the preliminary conclusions of the debate. The problem is not the technology, but the communication between referees and the VAR headquarters in Stockley Park near London’s Heathrow Airport. It was similar in comparable cases in the past. Almost always the errors were human errors.
Hardly any top referees in England
After the recent VAR chaos, English football is wondering whether its referees are good enough. What is certain is that after the withdrawal of well-known referees such as Howard Webb (2014) and Mark Clattenberg (2017), the level is manageable. Only two representatives of the English referees’ guild currently meet the highest standards, namely Michael Oliver and Antony Taylor.
A gap opens up behind it. The “VAR crisis“be the result”the least competent group of officials in recent memory“, wrote the respected columnist Martin Samuel in the “Times”. Even ex-referees give their colleagues devastating testimony: “The Premier League has the best players and coaches. But the officials are nowhere near the level needed“, wrote Mark Halsey, who was active in the Premier League until 2013, in the Sun.