Howard Webb is set to break his silence regarding the significant VAR error that marred Liverpool’s match against Tottenham, leading to Jurgen Klopp’s call for a replay.
A legitimate goal scored by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside during last Saturday’s match, with VAR officials Darren England and VAR assistant Dan Cook failing to intervene, mistakenly assuming that the referee, Simon Hooper, had already awarded the goal. Consequently, Spurs won the game 2-1.
Howard Webb will address the VAR error from last weekend’s match between Liverpool and Tottenham on the next ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ show
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) issued an immediate apology along with an explanation to Liverpool. However, Liverpool responded with their statement, hinting at the possibility of taking ‘further action.’ The release of audio recordings of the incident earlier this week has intensified the scrutiny.
Now, it appears that the PGMOL, under the leadership of Howard Webb, will take additional steps in the coming week. According to The Mail, the former Premier League official will address the blunder, characterized as a “significant human error,” during the next episode of ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up,’ which will be broadcast on Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the coming days.
Klopp’s comments regarding the potential replay came just days before Webb’s announcement. Klopp stated, “The audio didn’t change it at all because I was not really interested in why things happen. I saw the outcome, I saw a goal, and I saw it didn’t count. It’s really important that we deal with it in a proper way.”
Luis Diaz’s offside situation after checking VAR
He continued, “The only outcome should be a replay… probably won’t happen. The argument against that will be if we open that gate, everyone will ask for it. I think the situation is unprecedented. I’m 56 years old, and I’m absolutely used to wrong decisions. But something like that, as far as I can remember, has never happened. That’s why it should be a replay.”
Klopp clarified that his call for a replay was his personal preference and not an official stance from the club. He also emphasized that he was not angry with England, Cook, or Hooper, who were dropped from this weekend’s matches in the aftermath of the controversy.
He added, “I think a replay would be the right thing, or the ref has the opportunity to bring both coaches together and say ‘we made a mistake, let Liverpool score a goal and we start from there.’ What makes this specific game so special is that we conceded two minutes after, and how all things depend on each other. If we had scored, we would have started the game in the center. It would have been different.”
Klopp concluded, “That’s my view. I’m not angry with anybody. They made a mistake and felt horrible, but we shouldn’t go after people, and they don’t deserve any further punishment.”
