Darren England avoids the sack after huge VAR blunder in contentious Tottenham vs Liverpool clash - but he won't officiate the Reds again this season
Darren England has kept his job as a Premier League referee after his huge VAR error during Tottenham's chaotic clash with Liverpool on Saturday.
WHAT HAPPENED? The Premier League's officiating body PGMOL — headed by former World Cup final referee Howard Webb — has decided against sacking England, instead opting toremove him from availability for this weekend's fixture programme. The 37-year-old official will, however, not be selected for duty for games involving Liverpool for the remainder of the season.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: England's error, where a miscommunication led to Luis Diaz's first-half goal for Liverpool being incorrectly disallowed, has caused an unprecedented crisis for top-flight referees and heightened debate over the role of video technology within the game. The release of the audio from the incident further added to the storm of criticism toward's England in particular.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, was among a number of voices calling for a calm response and for the officials involved not to be sacked. With even Reds boss Jurgen Klopp backing England to keep his job, the PGMOL came to the resolution which applies a level of punishment while allowing England to continue his career.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT FOR DARREN ENGLAND? England will not be in action this weekend and will have a further period out of the spotlight during the international break that follows.
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