Darren England and Dan Cook have not been chosen for duty in the Premier League this weekend, likely as a result of the controversy surrounding their involvement in the Liverpool error.
The VAR officials responsible for a significant error in Liverpool’s Premier League defeat against Tottenham on Saturday have been removed from duty for a second round of fixtures.
Referees Darren England and Dan Cook were unable to rectify the wrongly disallowed goal by Luis Diaz, as they did not realize that the on-field referee, Simon Hooper, and his assistant officials initially deemed the goal offside.
As a result, England and Cook were replaced for the Sunday match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, as well as the Monday night game between Chelsea and Fulham. Neither official has been assigned a Premier League fixture for this weekend.
Referee Simon Hooper, who served as the fourth official in Chelsea’s victory over Fulham during the west London derby on Monday, will take on the lead VAR role for Everton’s match against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Liverpool has formally requested access to the audio recording of the VAR officials’ communication during the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham. This request comes in response to an unprecedented statement by the club, indicating their intention to “explore a range of options” following the error.
The referees’ organization PGMOL acknowledged a “significant human error” following the match, and referees’ chief Howard Webb reached out to Liverpool to offer an apology.
It was later revealed that Darren England and Dan Cook had officiated a match in the United Arab Emirates midweek and had only returned to London on the day before Liverpool’s match against Tottenham, involving a six-hour flight.
An approach from the UAE Pro League had been made to the Football Association and was subsequently approved by PGMOL chief Howard Webb, with this arrangement not impacting their availability for selection in Premier League fixtures.
Liverpool has called for a comprehensive review of the events and is actively advocating for the release of the audio recording of the incident by both the Premier League and PGMOL. Discussions were reportedly held regarding the possibility of broadcasting the audio during Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, but that did not come to fruition.
“Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency,” Liverpool’s statement read. “This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”