- England was responsible for the mix-up that saw Luis Diaz goal disallowed
- Along with VAR assistant Dan Cook, he was dropped from the refereeing rota
- Both are being eased back in, with England set to take charge of derby game
Darren England will take charge of his first match since the Liverpool VAR mix-up this Saturday.
Mail Sport understands England will referee the Championship fixture between Cardiff City and Bristol City in the Welsh capital.
The clash known as the Severnside derby is often a feisty affair and was always going to be refereed by someone in the Select Group of officials.
England is being eased back into duties after he was at fault for wrongly disallowing Luis Diaz‘s goal for offside when working as Video Assistant Referee (VAR) during Liverpool‘s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on September 30.
He was fourth official for the Premier League game between Brentford and Burnley last Saturday but will now be the man in the middle again.
Darren England will referee his first game since his VAR mix-up cost Liverpool last month when he takes charge of Cardiff City vs Bristol City in the Championship this Saturday
England was in charge of VAR for Tottenham vs Liverpool last month and wrongly ruled out Luis Diaz’s goal for offside. He was subsequently stood down from officiating
England will be in charge of the Severnside derby to be played at the Cardiff City Stadium
England’s assistant for the Spurs vs Liverpool game, Dan Cook, ran the line at Saturday night’s Sheffield United vs Manchester United fixture.
PGMOL dropped the duo from the refereeing roster after they failed to let Diaz’s goal stand.
The extraordinary fall-out from their mistake led to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp calling for the match to be replayed.
Refereeing chief Howard Webb then released audio of the conversations between on-field referee Simon Hooper, England, Cook and other VAR operatives at Stockley Park in west London.
The audio revealed how England mistakenly thought the on-field decision was that Diaz was onside rather than offside, so when he said ‘check complete’, he’d upheld the wrong call.
Hooper didn’t know a mistake had been made until the end of the game.
Webb, who released the audio to shut down talk of a ‘conspiracy’, ensured all officials received additional training, feeling it was a major breakdown in communication which resulted in the error.
Replays showed Luis Diaz’s goal should have stood, but the VAR official misunderstood the original decision and called ‘check complete’, meaning the goal was wrongly ruled out
PGMOL chief Howard Webb has ensured all officials received additional VAR training
