Dark lighting, dozens of screens and men with headsets huddled together… but once play starts they’re shouting over each other: Inside the Premier League’s VAR ‘Hub’ where refs made disastrous Liverpool offside decision

Assistant Referee 1 (Adrian Holmes): ‘All good. Hold both. Hold both’

Referee (Simon Hooper): ‘Yes, leave it alone.’

Assistant referee 1: ‘Wait. Postpone, postpone.”

VAR (Darren England): ‘Possibly offside, Diaz.’

Assistant Referee 2 (Simon Long): ‘Give it.’

Assistant referee 1: ‘I’m coming back for offside, mate.’

VAR: ‘Just checking offside. Delay, delay.’

VAR: ‘Give the kick point, let’s go. Kick point please?’

Referee: ‘Yeah, don’t worry, mate.’

Replay operator: “So here we are.”

Referee: ‘Wait.’

Replay operator: ‘Just take a tight angle.’

VAR: ‘Yes, next give me a 2D line ready from frame two.’

Replay operator: “So frame two there?”

VAR: ‘That’s fine. Perfect, yes. 2D line on the left boot.’

Replay operator: “Let me switch angles.”

VAR: ‘Romero, I think so?’

Replay operator: ‘I think this angle might be better? Happy with this angle?’

VAR: ‘Yes.’

—

Replay operator: ‘2D line on the trunk?’

VAR: ‘2D line on the boot.’

Replay operator: ‘Yes, okay. So 2D line on the trunk.’

VAR: ‘And stop it. Check completed, check done. That’s fine, perfect.’

Assistant referee 1: ‘Playing.’

Referee: ‘Cheers mate.’

VAR: ‘Thanks mate.’

Referee: ‘Well done boys, good process.’

Replay operator: ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. The decision on the field was offside. Are you happy with this?’

Assistant VAR (Dan Cook): ‘Yes.’

Replay operator: ‘Are you happy with this?’

Assistant VAR: ‘Offside, goal, yes. That’s wrong, Daz.’

VAR: ‘What?’

Replay operator: ‘Decision on the field was offside. Are you happy with this image? Yes, it’s on the side. The image we gave them is on the side.”

Assistant VAR: ‘He’s playing against him, he’s offside.

VAR: ‘Oh f***’

Replay operator: ‘Delay, delay. Oli (Kohout, PGMOL Hub Ops) says to postpone, Oli says to postpone.’

VAR: ‘Excuse me?’

Replay operator: ‘Oli calls to say the game has to be postponed. The decision is onside.’

VAR: ‘I can’t do anything.’

Replay operator: Oli says he has to postpone, Oli says he has to postpone.’

VAR: ‘Oli?’

Fourth official: ‘Yes.’

Replay operator: ‘Postpone the game, postpone the game? Stop the game.’

VAR: ‘They started the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything.’

Assistant VAR: ‘Yes, they started again. Yes. No.’

VAR: ‘I can’t do anything. I can not do anything. F***.”