Pep Guardiola compares referees to leading actors as Man City boss wades in on Liverpool FC VAR row

Pep Guardiola says referees must allow players to be the 'main roles' in games, as he gave his opinion on Liverpool's controversial VAR decision at the weekend.

Liverpool were left furious after Luis Diaz's goal at Tottenham was ruled out for offside, and a miscommunication among the VAR officials meant that the goal was incorrectly ruled out rather than overturned and given in their favour. They released a pointed statement having received an apology from the PGMOL (who govern the referees), and the debate surrounding the effectiveness of VAR has been discussed in the days since.

Asked for his opinion, Manchester City boss Guardiola said that he sympathises with Liverpool and called for the actions of players and managers to once again be what games are judged upon. Putting on a mock voice, Guardiola even jokingly awarded an Oscar to the referees to emphasise his point.

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"It changes the job of the referee. They don’t take the decisions, now it is the job of the VAR, the important ones," he said. "But if they make a mistake with the VAR, we have a problem.

"I understand completely how upset Liverpool must be in that case. It could be another club but the bosses of the referees will decide what we have to do and we will follow them. That is all.

"I am not involved [in finding a solution] and I don’t care. I rely on the people. Everyone knows they made a mistake and Liverpool suffered the big consequence of that. In this type of game it is so important. But no worries, the consequences will dictate the players and the managers, no worries."

Asked if it is harder to take a decision that is down to a referee