# Lee Mason Reinstated by PGMOL After Blunder Last Season
Lee Mason, the referee who was sacked after making a horrific blunder in an Arsenal match last season, has been reinstated by the PGMOL. As reported by the Daily Mail, Mason has been rehired by the referees’ body to help train up new officials.
It is said that he will work with officials at Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League level but will ‘operate specifically on Leagues One and Two’. Mason had worked as a Premier League referee from 2007 to 2022, overseeing 287 top-flight matches during that time, before becoming a full-time VAR official.
But in his new role, the 51-year-old will not be working on the VAR side of things, which will come as a relief to many after he made two high-profile errors at Stockley Park last season.
## Mason’s Errors Last Season
Firstly, he incorrectly disallowed a goal for Newcastle United in their 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace in September, after which he was dropped from his duties for the following gameweek. Discussing the incident at the time, Magpies legend Alan Shearer said: ‘It’s shocking, abysmal, disgraceful – whatever word you want to use.
The referee Michael Salisbury actually gets it right he gives the goal. It’s Lee Mason and the VAR who somehow bizarrely tell him, “you’ve made a howler”. As I keep saying, VAR is not the problem the people running it are.’
But it was Mason’s failure to disallow Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal for a clear offside in their 1-1 draw back in February that got him the sack. The incident was notorious as the Gunners were top of the table at the time and ultimately it could have cost them dear in the title race, with Mason departing the PGMOL by ‘mutual consent’ just over a week later.
PGMOL representative Chris Foy said of the incident: ‘In the build-up to the goal, Christian Norgaard — whose cross it is that [Ivan] Toney heads in — is in an offside position. However, the truth is that VAR didn’t fully investigate with the lines. The lines, simply, didn’t go down. And that counts as human error. Had the lines gone down the goal would have been disallowed for offside.’
## Mason’s Reinstatement
Despite his errors last season, Mason has been given another chance by the PGMOL and will now be working to help train up new officials in Leagues One and Two. It remains to be seen if he will ever be allowed back on VAR duty again but for now it looks like he will be sticking to training up new referees.
For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.