Howard Webb will finally speak publicly about the VAR mistake that cost Liverpool dearly when they lost 2-1 to Tottenham earlier this month.
The PGMOL chief will join Michael Owen for the second ever episode of Mic’d Up, going through recent VAR decisions to explain the process involved in how officials reached an on-field call. And Webb is expected to address the error that saw Darren England, on VAR, miscommunicate with referee Simon Hooper to result in Luis Diaz’s goal, confirmed as onside, ruled out for an offside.
It was a mistake that caused huge anger among Liverpool’s fanbase and led to both the club putting out a strong statement just 24 hours after the match and manager Jurgen Klopp even expressing his desire for a replay.
That led to the Anfield club being given access to the audio of the chaotic discussions between the match officials who wrongly disallowed Diaz’s goal against Tottenham.
The mistake happened when Diaz’s goal was wrongly flagged for offside by the assistant referee. England, on VAR duty at Stockley Park, and his assistant, Dan Cook, were under the mistaken impression that the goal had been given on the pitch. This then led to a message being relayed that the on-field decision was correct.
Tottenham, who would go on to win the game 2-1, restarted play with a free-kick, and although the mistake soon became clear, under the VAR protocols, it was too late to change the decision.
The PGMOL later released the audio of the incident to the public, bringing to light the chaotic nature of events unfolding at Stockley Park as Simon Hooper restarted the match in the stadium, but referees boss Webb has yet to speak out on it, though he is understood to have apologised to Liverpool for the mix up.
