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Lee Mason leaves as Premier League VAR referee as embattled official leaves PGMOL by ‘mutual consent’ after his shock offside error cost Arsenal all three points in their clash with Brentford
VAR Lee Mason leaves PGMOL and will no longer officiate in the Premier League, Sportsmail can reveal.
Mason is understood to be leaving by mutual consent, a week after the 51-year-old made a huge mistake in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.
VAR mistakenly left Ivan Toney’s equalizer standing, after failing to check if Christian Norgaard was offside.
He left Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta furious and could prove costly in his run to beat Manchester City for the Premier League title.
On Tuesday, Arteta reluctantly accepted the PGMOL’s apology and took a swing at Mason. “I’ll only be satisfied if they give me the two points back,” said Arteta.
VAR Lee Mason leaves PGMOL and will no longer officiate in the Premier League, Sportsmail can reveal
Christian Norgaard was offside in the build-up to Ivan Toney’s late equalizer for Brentford
‘I appreciate the sincere and genuine apologies, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that we are down two points. Everyone makes mistakes, but that was something else. I wasn’t having it, the club wasn’t having it.
“There was a lot of anger and disappointment because that wasn’t human error, it was a huge misunderstanding of your work.” That is not acceptable, sorry. It cost Arsenal two points, we will have to find those two points elsewhere in the league.”
PGMOL boss Howard Webb was also angry when Sportsmail revealed how he called all officials to a summit at Stockley Park to discuss the weekend’s mistakes.
It was a humiliating weekend for VAR as Brighton also had a goal against Crystal Palace disallowed by mistake.
In the 1-1 draw, John Brooks drew the wrong Palace defender’s offside line after Pervis Estupinan scored for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Mason and Brooks, under fire, were among Premier League officials who attended a video workshop run by Webb to ensure the same mistakes were not made the following weekend.
Mikel Arteta was furious and Toney’s goal could have a big impact on this season’s title race
The PGMOL told Sportsmail on Tuesday night: “We accept that mistakes were made…however we are encouraged by the way our officials have responded and are confident they will carry forward the learnings.”
While Mason was already set to sit out this weekend’s round of matches, Brooks will return as fourth official when Arsenal take on Aston Villa on Saturday.
Mason was a Premier League referee for 15 years, overseeing 287 senior matches during that time. He stopped after the 2020-21 season and became a full-time VAR the following season.
His entire career in the professional game saw the 51-year-old referee make over 500 appearances after progressing to the Football League in 1998.