The governing body for soccer referees released an audio clip Tuesday that seems to show a referee swearing after realizing he’s made a critical mistake.
106 seconds of incompetence and claiming they cannot stop the game for the integrity of this sport. 😭 pic.twitter.com/UIr5GPGGNQ
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) October 3, 2023
The incident began when head video assistant referee (VAR) Darren England made a controversial call during Saturday’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham. (RELATED: Refs Forced To Apologize After Butchering Pivotal Game. Are They More Incompetent Than Joe And Kamala?)
Referees called back what appeared to be a Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool in the 34th minute for an offsides penalty, and England and his team began to review the play and concluded that Diaz was not offsides.
In the audio recording, England can be heard telling on field referee Simon Hooper, “Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect,” indicating the call on the field should stand.
The replay operator seems to catch the mistake and interjects, “Wait, wait, wait, wait. The on-field decision was offside … are you happy with this?”
“The image that we gave them is onside,” the replay operator tells England.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” England responds, realizing his mistake.
The review team then tried to stop the game to overturn the call but it was too late.
“Delay, delay. [Replay operation executive Oli Kohout] is saying to delay. Oli’s saying to delay,” the replay operator can be heard saying, to no avail. “Oli’s calling in to say delay the game. The decision is onside.”
“They’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything,” England replies dejectedly, continuing to curse.
The controversial audio was released by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) after Liverpool, who went on to lose the game 2-1, said that “sporting integrity has been undermined,” according to BBC.
“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete,’ therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision,” the PGMOL said in a statement, per BBC.