Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has claimed Lee Mason deserves to be sacked after his blunder during Arsenal vs Brentford.
Mason is facing intense scrutiny over his position as a dedicated VAR after he failed to sufficiently investigate the controversial Bees equaliser. Arsenal had taken the lead through Leandro Trossard, before Ivan Toney nodded home following a scramble less than 10 minutes later.
But replays showed that Christian Norgaard was in an offside position when he headed the ball back across for Toney to score. The goal was allowed to stand despite an arduous VAR check which lasted more than three minutes.
Much of the investigation was focused on whether Ethan Pinnock was offside in the first phase from the free-kick, with Mason then neglecting to draw lines for the crucial assist. Mikel Arteta hit out at the decision and said he expected an apology from the Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the group tasked with officiating top-flight matches.
“I just looked back and it is offside,” said Arteta. “They will probably give an explanation later in the week but today we have not got one.”
And Hackett, who refereed in the top-flight for almost 20 years has urged new PGMOL chief Howard Webb to axe Mason. He said: “Howard Webb is now in charge of the PGMOL. One of the first things he should do is dismiss permanent VAR operator Lee Mason.
“This weekend, Mason lets another referee down by not disallowing the Brentford goal for offside. These are decisions that VAR should get right.”
But Mason’s latest howler is merely only the latest in a string of gaffes which have put the former referee’s position under scrutiny. Two years ago, he was stood down from VAR duties after incorrectly overturning two red cards during a game between West Ham and Southampton.
And earlier this season, Mason was back in the firing line after he incorrectly ruled out a late Newcastle United winner vs Crystal Palace.
The Magpies though they had scored a winner back in September, but Mason advised the on-field official that it should be disallowed for a foul. Webb has been appointed to his new role to help with the use of the much-maligned technology and has advocated for more transparency.
“I’m really all for openness and transparency, trying to draw that curtain back on the decision-making,” Webb said earlier this week. "I think when people can see the rationale for a decision, understand it better - they might not agree with the outcome - but at least they’re more understanding or accepting of why it happened.
“We’re trying to do some work with the broadcasters so you can tell the story to people back home, but also the people in the stadium need to know too.”
Elsewhere in the Premier League, there were more high-profile errors including Brighton ’s disallowed goal vs Palace which was made due to human error. Chelsea were also left incensed after they were denied a late penalty despite replays showing the ball had clearly hit Tomas Soucek’s hand in the penalty area.
