Jamie Carragher says VAR 'panicked' and 'froze' after realising Luis Diaz error in Liverpool's defeat at Spurs

Luis Diaz's goal for Liverpool at Tottenham was mistakenly disallowed by the officials; VAR failed to overturn an incorrect offside call after believing the on-field decision had been to award the goal; Liverpool have called on PGMOL to release the audio between the officials

Football Expert and Columnist

Monday 2 October 2023 20:46, UK

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Jamie Carragher says the officials responsible for incorrectly confirming the decision to disallow Luis Diaz's goal at Tottenham «panicked» and «froze» once they realised their error.

Diaz was flagged offside after scoring for Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday but replays showed he was actually onside.

However, PGMOL said Darren England, the VAR, mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, leading him to tell Simon Hooper, the referee, to stick with the original call.

PGMOL released a statement after Spurs' 2-1 win over Liverpool, saying the decision was a result of a «significant human error», while IFAB rules state that play could not be brought back to correct the mistake once the referee restarted the game.

But speaking to Monday Night Football, Carragher said: «The bit where I'm really struggling is that they must know within two seconds because Tottenham have taken a free-kick, they haven't kicked off.

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»I'd be screaming at the referee but maybe they're saying they have to wait until the ball goes out of play. They're saying they stayed with protocol, that they're not allowed to stop it but they panicked, they froze.

«I know that's the rule but that's a red-tape rule. If they had reversed it, we'd have been praising