Spurs vs. Liverpool: VAR Death Sentence?
Last weekend’s Spurs vs. Liverpool match has sent shockwaves throughout the football community, being touted as one of the most poorly officiated games in Premier League history. Fans, pundits, and players alike were left baffled by the glaring mistakes and inconsistencies in decision-making. Such a high-profile game being marred by controversy has not only sparked heated debates but also raised serious questions about the state of refereeing standards. The aftermath is set to have lasting implications on how officiating is viewed and potentially reformed in the league.
Spurs vs. Liverpool Match
Liverpool in 2nd position was flying before last weekend’s fixture and so too were Spurs who were a couple of places below Liverpool. It was billed as a heavyweight and exciting fixture and for good reason. Both teams came into the fixture in great form and both teams played attacking football. What followed was one of the most controversial games of all time in the Premier League.
It was a catalog of errors. One mistake after another. Curtis Jones was wrongly sent off early in the game, Jones and Bissouma were going for the loose ball and as Jones tried to take control of the ball his foot went over the ball and slid into the shin area of Bissouma. Jones was shown a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper but then he was asked to go to the screen by the VAR team. This is where the mistakes started.
Hooper was shown a still image of Jones’ stud going into Bissouma’s shin instead of rolling the whole footage which led to Hooper sending Jones off. The worst was yet to come.
After Spurs took the lead through Son, Liverpool equalized with a fine Luis Diaz finish past Vicario or so they thought. The assistant flagged for offside, the decision went to VAR who checked the decision and even when it looked onside with the naked eye, the VAR team inexplicably confirmed the offside decision and disallowed the goal. Fans weren’t even shown the offside lines because that would have proven Diaz was onside.
10-men Liverpool kept fighting and got their just reward when they finally equalized through Cody Gakpo. After half time Simon Hooper kept making weird calls. The yellows for Robertson and Salah were wrong would be an understatement but the call that again called the referee body’s integrity into question was the sending off of Diogo Jota. Jota received his first yellow when Spurs’ Udogie tripped himself and fell and the ref adjudged Jota to have fouled him. His second yellow was a yellow card but that should have been his first considering Hooper had gotten every other decision wrong, the second yellow card piled on that.
Down to 9-men, Liverpool fought valiantly until their luck ran out in literally the last minute as a Matip own goal consigned the Reds to a defeat.
Immediate Punishment for Officials
Simon Hooper was the on-field referee for the Spurs vs. Liverpool match. Darren England and his assistant Dan Cooke were the VAR officials who did not overturn the Luis Diaz offside decision. Michael Oliver was the fourth official during the game.
The officials involved in the farce have been reprimanded. Nothing out of the ordinary but they were still punished the usual amount. VAR operators Darren England and his assistant Dan Cooke were not selected for next weekend’s games. Further punishment will depend on how these events unfold.
As for referee Simon Hooper and fourth official Michael Oliver, Hooper will be in charge of the VAR duties for the Bournemouth vs Everton game, while Michael Oliver will be officiating in two games – in what capacity, that will be disclosed.
Liverpool’s Action
Liverpool wrote a strongly worded response to PGMOL’s official statement apologizing for the officiating and getting the decisions wrong. Liverpool has also asked for the official audio tape of the wrongly allowed Luis Diaz goal incident to which the PGMOL has obliged.
In response to Liverpool’s request, PGMOL has released the audio footage of the Luis Diaz disallowed offside goal.
Where Does the Premier League Go From Here?
If this was a one-off occasion or a mistake then it would be much easier for everyone to just “move on” but considering almost every fanbase has been uniting behind Liverpool’s rigid stance tells you the story.
Almost every Premier League club has been wronged in one way or the other by poor officiating and VAR decisions. Sheffield United got relegated from the Premier League because the goal-line technology failed at Villa Park, and Bournemouth also got relegated. There is also the United penalty that was given AFTER the final whistle against Brighton.
These are just a few examples, the handball decisions for penalties are highly inconsistent as well. Some are given for accidental handballs and the next week they are not given. There is no consistency when it comes to officiating and that is why every club is grieved by the inaptness of the officials. The same thing with the red cards in the game, a strong tackle is now considered violent conduct, and some other week it is let go.
