The Aftermath of VAR Error During Liverpool’s Trip to Tottenham

The events of five days ago during Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham are still reverberating around the footballing world. An unprecedented incident denied the Reds a legitimate goal, and the fallout has been significant. The PGMOL has released a statement pertaining to VAR, and now various repercussions and subsequent changes have been mooted to ensure this does not happen again.

Claims Over Referee Darren England and the Reds Refuted

On Wednesday evening, The Telegraph reported that lead VAR during the incident, referee Darren England, would consequently be removed from ALL Liverpool games for the rest of the season. However, Sky Sports have now refuted this, saying that they “understand no decision has yet been taken by PGMOL to stop England refereeing matches involving Liverpool for the rest of the current season.”

The Telegraph report was a standalone one, and although his unavailability for the Reds would ensure there could be no further incidents between the two parties, it would be a big statement from referee chief Howard Webb. This will no doubt continue to rumble on, though, but one could expect England will not be selected to oversee Klopp’s side in the short term with the fire still burning.

Reaction Across the Footballing World

With an incident like this not seen before, it has led to quite the reaction across the footballing world, and beyond. Former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster claimed that “Sky are in bed with the people at VAR and [the PGMOL].” Foster claimed that “Sky must have got straight on the phone and said ‘do not highlight the fact that we’ve cocked up here, do not show it, do not bad-mouth us’.”

The Independent have now reported that “a source inside the PGMOL dismissed Foster’s allegations as ‘unfounded and simply not true’,” with the referees’ governing body having no say in what TV companies show. Sky did brush over the incident during the first half and actually missed the second-half kickoff as they started discussing what may have occurred, though they did “not want to comment on Foster’s claims.”

This Incident Still Has Plenty of Legs

This incident still has plenty of legs and we certainly have not heard the end of it! The unprecedented incident at Tottenham has led to various repercussions and subsequent changes being mooted to ensure this does not happen again. The PGMOL has released a statement pertaining to VAR, and now claims over referee Darren England and the Reds have been refuted. It remains to be seen what will happen next, but one thing is for sure – this incident still has plenty of legs.