Howard Webb, the head of the referees, has announced that measures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence of the VAR error that led to a legitimate Liverpool goal against Tottenham Hotspur being disallowed.
In a 2-1 loss for Liverpool, VAR incorrectly ruled out a goal by Luis Diaz, who was, in fact, onside. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acknowledged the mistake, attributing it to VAR having “lost sight of the on-field decision” and inaccurately communicated “check complete.”
Webb explained the steps taken to ensure this type of error doesn’t happen again, saying, “Having seen what happened in Spurs vs Liverpool, we analyzed the situation, looked at what we can do better, and put some safeguards in place. We worked hard over the subsequent days to establish these safeguards around communication to avoid that sort of thing happening.”
When asked why the referee couldn’t halt the game after it had restarted, Webb clarified that by the time VAR and the assistant referee realized the mistake, it was already too late to intervene. He cited the FIFA laws and those set by IFAB (the International Football Association Board), stating that the existing rules do not permit such actions. The laws of the game, as outlined by FIFA and IFAB, contain a defined process, and in such circumstances, it doesn’t allow for reversals or intervention.
