The Premier League has issued a hard-hitting statement blasting the contentious decision-making in the latest round of matches.
VAR official Lee Mason failed to spot an offside in the build-up to Brentford’s equalising goal away to Arsenal last Saturday. As a result, he has been stood down from duty for this weekend’s matches. Mason was the same official who controversially failed to urge on-field referee Andre Marriner to review three Nottingham Forest penalty appeals in a 2-2 draw against Brentford in November.
Meanwhile, John Brooks was replaced as VAR for Monday night’s Merseyside derby and tonight’s top-of-the-table clash between Arsenal and Manchester City after he wrongly disallowed a goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace.
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The errors at the weekend prompted Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), to contact Arsenal and Brighton to acknowledge and explain them. Meanwhile, the Premier League has hit out at the PGMOL and has called for improvements.
A Premier League spokesperson said: “The Premier League sets high standards and is disappointed that PGMOL fell below those expectations last weekend. As a result the Premier League requested that PGMOL review and explain a number of incidents from the recent match round.
“Following discussions with PGMOL, and today’s Select Group One review meeting, we support PGMOL’s views on addressing these issues to improve performances going forward.”
On the meeting called by Webb, a PGMOL statement read: “A constructive meeting was held at Stockley Park, led by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, to thoroughly review officiating errors in Premier League matches last weekend.
“There was a focus on error prevention and a reinforcement of best practice process with the aim of achieving accurate outcomes in an efficient manner going forward.
“We accept mistakes were made and we acted accordingly by calling a meeting and changing match official appointments where appropriate, however, we are encouraged by the way our officials have responded and are confident they will take the learnings forward, always with the aim of delivering high officiating standards for the benefit of the game.”
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