Liverpool request ‘full transparency’ in officiating review after VAR blunder

October 02, 2023 at 8:45 am GMT+1

Liverpool have demanded ‘full transparency’ with the review into the officiating blunders that marred their controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool travelled to north London in Saturday’s late Premier League kick-off as they looked to gain ground on a Manchester City side who had fallen to defeat earlier in the day.

The Reds’ day did not get off to a great start, though, as Curtis Jones was shown a straight red card after 26 minutes for a late challenge.

However, Liverpool then thought they had taken the lead eight minutes later via Luis Diaz. But the Colombian’s goal was wrongly disallowed for offside in the first half with VAR Darren England failing in his duty to overturn the decision after replays clearly showed he was onside.

The mistake was obvious to all watching and resulted in the PGMOL releasing a statement hours after the game had ended:

PGMOL have confirmed that the Luis Díaz goal against Tottenham was incorrectly ruled out for offside due to an error by VAR. pic.twitter.com/05qLQV63qO
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 30, 2023

Liverpool went on to lose the tie 2-1 but that may not have been the case had Diaz’s goal been given. This poor officiating has caught the ire of the higher-ups at Anfield.

John W. Henry’s wife took to social media to express her anger in a now-deleted post and Liverpool themselves have released the following statement: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.

“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.

“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention. That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable.

“Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency. This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.

“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”

Liverpool will be back in Premier League action on October 8 vs Brighton and can be backed at 13/10 with bet365 to pick up the win.