Jurgen Klopp has called for a replay of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, citing VAR’s failure to intervene when Luis Diaz’s ‘goal’ was disallowed.
Klopp made this remarkable assertion during his press conference in preparation for Liverpool’s Europa League encounter with Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield.
“As a football person, I think the outcome should be a replay,” the German coach said.
“The audio didn’t change it at all. It’s important that we deal with it in a proper way. They didn’t do it on purpose; we should not forget that.”
Video Assistant Referee Darren England was unable to correct an erroneous on-field decision that led to the disallowance of a Luis Diaz ‘goal’ in Liverpool’s match against Spurs on Saturday. This incident took place with the score level, and Liverpool ultimately suffered a 2-1 defeat.
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) supplied Liverpool with an audio recording capturing the communication between the on-field referees and the VAR officials. Subsequently, the recording was made public.
The recording shows that England carried out a check of the goal but mistakenly believed that the on-field decision had been ‘goal’.
It was only after he told referee Simon Hooper that the check was complete and play resumed that he realised that his saying “check complete” had upheld the incorrect offside call.
PGMOL put the mistake down to ‘a significant human error’. Liverpool published a statement saying that the sporting integrity of the game had been undermined and that the club would “explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
England and assistant VAR Dan Cook have been removed from their respective officiating roles scheduled for Sunday and Monday, and they will not participate in any matches during the upcoming weekend.