Referee Paul Tierney dropped after Liverpool controversy - but is on VAR duty
Paul Tierney has been dropped from officiating in the Premier League this weekend following his error in Liverpool's win over Nottingham Forest.
Tierney incorrectly gave the ball back to Liverpool following a stop in play for a head injury in the closing stages. The Reds went on to score the winner through Darwin Nunez's header, securing three hugely valuable points in the title race and angering Forest.
He has now been overlooked for a refereeing role in the Premier League this coming weekend. But Tierney will act as VAR for Arsenal vs Brentford on Saturday - a match which could be crucial in the title race. A PGMOL spokesperson said that Tierney had not been dropped and has been 'rotated' - stating it is "something that happens regularly".
Tierney stopped the game after Caoimhin Kelleher knocked into Ibrahima Konate while trying to claim a cross. Callum Hudson-Odoi was in possession on the wing at the time, but Tierney then gave Liverpool the ball back in an uncontested drop-ball instead of Forest.
Nunez headed in Alexis Mac Allister's cross minutes later, leaving Forest furious that their pressure had been stopped by Tierney. Forest's refereeing analyst Mark Clattenburg said: “As a club, Forest feel there have been one or two decisions that have gone against them - Newcastle United, West Ham - decisions that the PGMOL have accepted that there has been a mistake.
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“If the referee is to stop the game for a head injury if he feels there is one. He’s rightly allowed to stop it. However, the ball has to go back to the team that has possession. And Nottingham Forest clearly had that possession.
“He did exactly the same in the first half however it was a different situation. The ball was closer to the penalty area and the Nottingham Forest was towards the corner flag. Nottingham Forest should have had the ball back. Instead, Liverpool have gone upfield and scored from it.”
Paul Tierney will work as a VAR, rather than a referee, this weekend (Michael Regan/Getty Images)The Premier League's announcement for officials reveals that Michael Oliver will be in charge of the all-important Liverpool vs Manchester City fixture on Sunday at Anfield. Meanwhile, Sunny Singh Gill will also make Premier League history this weekend when he takes charge of Crystal Palace ’s home clash against Luton Town.
He will become the first British South Asian to referee a match in the competition in another landmark moment for the Singh Gill family.
His father Jarnail remains the first and only English league football referee to wear a turban, officiating 150 matches between 2004 and 2010. Meanwhile, his brother Bhupinder became the first Sikh-Punjabi to serve as a Premier League assistant referee when he ran the line in the match between Southampton and Nottingham Forest in January 2023.
In an interview published on the Premier League’s website last month, Sunny Singh Gill said: “You want the younger generation to look at you and think ‘I can also do it’.
“If parents are looking at us thinking, ‘Wow, we have Asian kids in the Premier League officiating games, my son can give that a go, my daughter can give that a go…’" Singh Gill took charge of his first EFL match in August 2022, a League Two fixture between Northampton and Hartlepool.
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