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REVEALED: VAR wandering John Brooks is not yet ready for tonight’s Merseyside derby AND Arsenal and Man City’s title showdown this week, but could be pulled before the emergency meeting.
Brooks was in charge of VAR for Brighton’s trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon and made a “significant mistake” disallowing Pervis Estupinan’s first-half effort because he drew the wrong defender’s offside lines.
His mistake was one of two for which the PGMOL apologized, the other being Lee Mason’s failure to draw the lines in deciding whether Christian Norgaard was standing in an offside position when he crossed for Ivan Toney to equalize at the emirates.
Brooks is also out as VAR for Monday night’s Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton.
It was suggested that the two officials who made mistakes could be sacked as a result of their mistakes, and Sportsmail revealed on Sunday that Howard Webb, the chief referee, had summoned all the officials to Stockley Park on Tuesday for an urgent summit after the games. Two embarrassing mistakes.
John Brooks, who made the mistake of canceling Brighton’s opener, is out for both Monday’s Merseyside derby and the title showdown at We
Webb, who was appointed PGMOL’s first refereeing official in August last year, has contacted both clubs to apologize and “acknowledge significant errors in the VAR process.”
A statement issued by the arbitration body said the errors were being “thoroughly reviewed” as Webb desperately tries to maintain some public trust in an increasingly maligned system.
The PGMOL statement said: ‘Howard Webb has contacted Arsenal and Brighton to acknowledge and explain significant errors in the VAR process.
“Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed.”
Brooks wrongly ruled out Pervis Estupinan’s effort on Saturday because he drew the wrong defender’s offside lines
Both mistakes could have huge ramifications for the respective ambitions of both sides this season, with Arsenal chasing their first Premier League crown in 19 years and Brighton chasing European qualification.
The two clubs were furious over the decisions, with Mikel Arteta expressing his frustration after a result that opened the door for Manchester City to usurp his side at the top of the Premier League as early as Wednesday night.
“I looked back and he’s offside,” Arteta said. “They will probably give an explanation later in the week, but we don’t have one today.
VAR Lee Mason forgot to mark the offside lines when assessing Ivan Toney’s goal for Brentford
‘You have to apply certain principles in defense and you do it by following the rules. Suddenly you change the rules, and then you have to change your principles.’
Meanwhile, Brighton also lamented two missed points; Although manager Roberto De Zerbi was calm in his post-match interview regarding the controversy, the club released a statement first revealing the PGMOL contact to apologize for the egregious mistake.
“As confirmed to the club by PGMOL last night, a serious mistake was made in disallowing Pervis Estupinan’s goal at Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon,” the club said.
Arsenal face Manchester City for the first time in the Premier League this season on Wednesday
‘The lines drawn in the VAR room to determine if Pervis was in an offside position were drawn incorrectly, and the goal should have stood.
“Although hugely disappointed by the error, the club has accepted PGMOL’s apology and will have no further comment.”
In addition to the incorrect offside decisions, Chelsea also felt they fell victim to poor refereeing over the weekend with Tomas Soucek’s handling of Conor Gallagher’s shot not being saved initially by referee Craig Pawson and then by Mark Scholes in VAR.