PGMOL has announced that referee Lee Mason has left his role as a Video Assistant Referee by mutual consent.
Mason was in charge of VAR for Arsenal's match against Brentford and failed to apply the correct checking procedures for Ivan Toney's equalising goal. The game ended 1-1.
The incident saw Mason receive widespread backlash and ridicule, whilst new PGMOL chief Howard Webb contacted the Gunners regarding the wrong decision.
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Less than one week later it Mason has left, with a statement saying: "PGMOL can confirm that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason has departed the organisation by mutual consent.
"Lee was a Premier League referee for 15 years and oversaw 287 top-flight matches during that time, with his last coming in the closing stages of the 2021/22 season. His full career in the professional game saw the 51-year-old officiate in over 500 fixtures after he progressed to the Football League in 1998.
"We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the professional game and wish him all the best for the future."
Mikel Arteta was amongst those critical of Mason's decision, saying after the game, "We ended the game with a huge anger and disappointment because that wasn’t a human error.
“That was a big, big, big, not understanding your job and that is not acceptable. Everybody makes errors and mistakes and we are part of that, me the first one. But that was something else. I wasn’t having it, the club wasn’t having it and I think it’s clear, the consequences of what happened.
“That cost Arsenal two points and that’s not going to be restored. So we are going to have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.”
Meanwhile, PGMOL itself gave a statement earlier in the week, explaining: “PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.”
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