In a shocking turn of events, audio recordings of the discussions among match officials during the disallowed goal controversy in the Tottenham vs. Liverpool match have been made public. Liverpool requested the Premier League for the audio following their 2-1 defeat, where Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly flagged offside.

The released audio exposes the moment when VAR referee Darren England, initially confident in the correctness of the decision, realises a mistake has been made, uttering an expletive. The governing body for referees, PGMOL, attributed the error to a “lapse of concentration and loss of focus.”

The incident occurred in the first half of a goalless game when Diaz believed he had given Liverpool the lead. The immediate flag for offside against the Colombian triggered a VAR check. As officials analysed the incident, the audio reveals their communication.

Upon completing the check, VAR referee Darren England communicated to on-field referee Simon Hooper that the decision was offside, leading to the restart of the game. However, the VAR team later realised the mistake as the replay operator pointed out the offside decision, which wasn’t communicated to the on-field team.

In the aftermath, PGMOL acknowledged the “significant human error” and clarified that the VAR protocol within the Laws of the Game prevented intervention once the game had restarted.

Liverpool, feeling that “sporting integrity has been undermined,” expressed their intention to explore available options for resolution. The controversy has sparked discussions about the reliability of VAR decisions and raised questions about the protocols in place to rectify such errors during a match.

As the football community grapples with the aftermath of this incident, calls for a comprehensive review of VAR procedures are likely to intensify, seeking to ensure the fair and accurate application of technology in the beautiful game.