The video assistants who made the blatant mistake in the game between Tottenham and Liverpool had been on duty in the United Arab Emirates two days earlier. Such additional earnings, which German referees also receive, are now being examined in England.
On the day of the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC, the PGMOL, the referee organization in the English Football Association, admitted that the video assistants had made a “serious human error”.
Anyone who wanted to had seen it before, even if the guide lines were missing from the television images and the clips quickly circulating on the Internet. Luis Díaz was not offside when Mohamed Salah passed. The goal to make it 1-0 for Liverpool should have counted on Saturday (September 30th, 2023), but instead the “Spurs” scored 1-0 shortly afterwards and ultimately won 2-1.
Why was the check after the goal so short? Why weren’t there any lines shown? How could this “serious human error” have occurred? These questions arose, and because Liverpool FC couldn’t find an answer, they demanded that the radio communications between the video assistants’ studio and the referee be published.
This happened on Tuesday evening (October 3rd, 2023). The publication is embarrassing for the video assistant Darren England and his helper Daniel Cook. The duo had assumed that referee Simon Hooper had awarded a goal and confirmed his opinion. But Hooper had ruled it offside. Only a technician, a so-called operator, alerted England and Cook to the error. But by then it was already too late, the game had already continued, so VAR intervention was no longer possible.
A human error that could happen in any league, but it is less likely in Germany. “In our Bundesliga, it is common practice for the referee’s decision to be announced loudly and audibly for everyone in the room before the check in the VAR workstation in Cologne,” said Alex Feuerherdt, media spokesman for the referees in the German Football Association (DFB). If England and Cook had known before their check – which was completely correct – that an offside decision had been made on the pitch, they would most likely have avoided the error.
“lack of concentration” after strenuous days
The explanations and suggestions for improvement from the English referee organization PGMOL, which were sent to all 20 Premier League clubs, said that “lack of concentration and a loss of focus” led to the breakdown. The reason for this cannot be proven, but what can be proven is that England and Cook had had strenuous days.
On Thursday, England already had VAR, although not in a game in England, but in the top league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The referee for the game between Sharjah and Al Ain was Michael Oliver, also English and active in the Premier League. Daniel Cook assisted him on one line. The game started on Thursday at 8pm local time, which is 5pm UK time. A good 48 hours later, England and Cook were working as a VAR duo in the top game in the Premier League. A flight from Dubai, which is close to Sharjah, to London takes around 7.5 hours.
English association examines operations in the Gulf
The duo’s deployment to the Persian Gulf is causing discussions for another reason. The English champions Manchester City are de facto owned by the ruling family of the Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The additional money that English referees collect in the UAE (there is only speculation about the amount) therefore endangers the integrity of the competition in the eyes of critics.
In their announcement, PGMOL and the English association announced that they wanted to examine whether English referees would be allowed to referee games in the future outside of games from the world association FIFA and UEFA.
German referees also collect money in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates
It is common practice in the Emirates for foreign referees to be invited, as is the case in Saudi Arabia, the de facto owner of Newcastle United. German referees have also conceded in both countries this season. Bastian Dankert led the game in Saudi Arabia between al-Fayha and al-Ittihad on Friday (September 29th, 2023). His assistants on the lines were Jan Seidel and Lasse Koslowski, and Christian Dingert, also a Bundesliga referee, was on duty as VAR.
In the UAE, Daniel Siebert, who was also used at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, refereed the game between Al Ain and Ajman on Saturday (September 23, 2023). Seidel was also an assistant for this game, together with Rafael Foltyn. Benjamin Cortus worked for them as VAR.
None of the referees mentioned were used in professional games in Germany in the near future. Two days after the game in the Emirates, Koslowski worked as an assistant in the Regionalliga Northeast game between Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Carl Zeiss Jena, which does not fall under the DFB’s jurisdiction.
“We make sure, as we do after appearances in the European Cup and in international matches, that referees have an appropriate break to recover. If someone blows the whistle in the Champions League on Tuesday, he can certainly be on the field on Saturday in the Bundesliga. If he is in on Thursday the Europa League whistles, things usually look different,” said DFB spokesman Feuerherdt.
Unlike in England, the 50+1 rule protects German referees from jeopardizing the integrity of the competition by conceding in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.