by
Howard Webb, chief of referees’ body PGMOL, has called a meeting for Premier League referees to discuss mistakes in the use of VAR this weekend.
The former World Cup final referee has already rung Arsenal and Brighton to explain errors in their games.
VAR operator Lee Mason did not draw the guidelines to check for offside on Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal.
Brighton had a goal disallowed for offside against Crystal Palace after the VAR guidelines were wrongly drawn.
During Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford, Ivan Toney’s 74th-minute goal was the subject of a VAR check by Mason following Ethan Pinnock’s challenge on Gunners defender Gabriel.
That incident was cleared but there was a suggestion Christian Norgaard was offside in the build-up.
However, Mason, who has moved on to dedicated VAR duties, did not use the system’s lines to check Norgaard’s position relative to Arsenal’s defenders.
In Brighton’s 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, Pervis Estupinan’s strike on 32 minutes was disallowed after a VAR review deemed the Ecuadorian to be offside.
However, the offside line was wrongly drawn from James Tomkins rather than his fellow Palace defender Marc Guehi, who was stood in a deeper position and playing Estupinan onside.
Webb returned from Major League Soccer at the beginning of December vowing to improve standards in the English game.
However, a positive start has been damaged by the VAR mistakes involving Arsenal and Brighton, leading to a public acknowledgement of ‘human error’.
It is understood all officials, with the exception of those on European duty this week, have been asked to attend the meeting.
He will use the meeting to discuss the issues that lay behind the mistakes and reiterate to officials that similar mistakes cannot be made if managers and players are to retain trust in the system.
John Brooks, the VAR operator whose mistake at Selhurst Park cost Brighton an opening goal, is due to be working VAR for tonight’s Merseyside derby and Wednesday’s crucial Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Appointments for next weekend’s fixtures are set to be confirmed on Tuesday.
