Premier League confirm Spurs vs Liverpool VAR blunder official to return to work

17 October 2023 , 09:58

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Darren England was the official at the heart of the controversy (Image: Richard Lee/REX/Shutterstock)

Premier League official Darren England will return to action this weekend after the VAR fiasco in Tottenham's win over Liverpool.

England was on VAR duty for the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Luis Diaz's goal was judged to be offside by the on-field officials, despite replays showing he was clearly onside. It has since been revealed that England and his assistant Dan Cook believed the on-field decision was infact onside.

They were both stood down from their involvement in matches that same weekend and were not selected for the Premier League fixtures before the international break.

But the Premier League have confirmed that both will return, with England named as fourth official for Brentford's clash with Burnley on Saturday. Cook meanwhile will be assistant to Michael Oliver at Sheffield United vs Manchester United.

The incident caused huge controversy with the PGMOL releasing audio from the VAR hub which showed the officials realising they had made the wrong call once the match had resumed. And despite calls for the game to be stopped, referees chief Howard Webb insists the correct protocol was followed.

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"They considered whether they could intervene to stop the game but they recognised that the laws of the game, set by FIFA and the IFAB, doesn’t allow that.

"There’s obviously a process in place that sits in the laws of the game about how we use VAR to make sure it is delivered consistently throughout every league in the world. And it doesn’t allow you to go back in those circumstances. As such they decided not to intervene."

Liverpool face Everton in the first clash of the weekend in the Merseyside derby, with Craig Pawson confirmed as the referee. David Coote will be on VAR, having also been in the role for a controversial clash between the two sides in 2020.

The official reportedly didn't think he could send off Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for a rash challenge on Virgil van Dijk, which resulted in a lengthy injury lay-off for the defender.

Elsewhere, Chris Kavanagh will be the man in the middle for Chelsea's London derby clash against Arsenal as the two sides bid to extend their recent good form.

Liam Prenderville