13 February 2023 , 17:15
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Lee Mason and John Brooks could both be removed from next weekend’s Premier League matches after the two made high-profile errors while working as VARs.
Chief of referees’ body PGMOL Howard Webb has ordered an emergency meeting - where attendance is compulsory - following a string of embarrassing blunders. Both officials, who were on VAR duty last weekend, made basic human errors to change the course of their respective matches.
Mason was in Stockley Park overseeing Arsenal ’s clash with Brentford and failed to rule out Ivan Toney’s equaliser. The goal was allowed to stand despite replays showing Christian Norgaard was in an offside position when he headed the ball back across to Toney. It has since emerged that Mason forgot to draw the lines on Norgaard’s touch, having focused almost exclusively on the first phase of play.
As for Brooks, he incorrectly disallowed Pervis Estupinan’s goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace after drawing the lines from the wrong defender. Webb has since contacted both clubs with an explanation, citing human error as the reason for the incorrect decisions.
"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," PGMOL said.
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"Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL."
Christian Norgaard appeared to be offside before knocking the ball across goal for Ivan Toney (Twitter)Brooks has already been taken off VAR duty for Liverpool vs Everton and Manchester City vs Arsenal, with Andre Marriner and David Coote stepping in respectively. Appointments for the next round of Premier League matches are set to be confirmed on Tuesday, after Webb’s stern meeting with underperforming officials.
understands there is growing pressure for Mason to be dropped and if he is, it will be the third time he has faced sanctions in the last two seasons.
Webb, who was only appointed to the role earlier this season, is facing calls to sack Mason permanently following his calamitous performance. Former top-flight referee Keith Hackett said removing Mason from his role
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.”
Lee Mason is facing calls to be sacked after his latest VAR blunder (Getty Images)Webb has insisted that the technology should only be used for avoiding howlers, but Hackett believes there is now an over-reliance from officials in the middle.
"You cannot make the errors that we saw yesterday. Without VAR I think assistant referees, in those situations, would have raised the flag and given offside,” he added.
"The assistant referees are in doubt because, in a sense, our referees are over-relying on VAR, and VAR itself is not delivering the accuracy. That is the process that's clearly not working and it is the lack of communication with the fans that we're all crying out for that is not being delivered."