Referee Darren England is set to make his Premier League VAR comeback this weekend, marking his first stint since the controversial incident where Luis Diaz’s legitimate goal for Liverpool was wrongly ruled out against Tottenham.
It’s been over half a year since England has taken on the role of video referee, and he’s now lined up for Fulham’s clash with West Ham United at the London Stadium. Following the blunder with Diaz’s disallowed goal, England was temporarily removed from all officiating duties but has gradually returned, acting as both the main referee and the fourth official in various matches.
It took nearly three months after the error before he refereed another top-flight game, overseeing just two Premier League fixtures up to February 10, alongside nine Championship games. The 38-year-old has also served as VAR in a couple of FA Cup games since the incident last September, but this weekend will be his first time back in the VAR seat for a Premier League match since then.
PGMOL’s review of the mistake described it as ‘a critical lapse in concentration and clear lack of focus… by an individual match official which saw him inexplicably “check completing” an incorrect on-field decision. ‘ England had incorrectly confirmed ‘check complete’ for what should have been a Diaz goal against Spurs, leading to confusion as the original offside call stood, denying Liverpool the goal.
The mistake was quickly realised, with audio from the incident later being made public. England resorted to expletives as his colleagues clarified his error, reports the Mirror. However, with play having resumed, England was unable to reverse the game.
Following the blunder, the PGMOL issued a statement: “As stated shortly after the full-time whistle on Saturday evening, we acknowledged in a statement that a significant human error had occurred during the aforementioned match, which we recognise should have resulted in a goal being awarded through VAR intervention.