Darren England ‘to return to Premier League VAR duty this weekend’ for the first time since his involvement in Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal for Liverpool against Tottenham in September

Referee Darren England is set to be on Premier League VAR duty this weekend for the first time since his involvement in Luis Diaz‘s goal in Liverpool‘s 2-1 loss against Tottenham on September 30.

As reported by ESPN, England will be the video referee when West Ham host Fulham on Sunday.

In the aftermath of the controversial incident involving Diaz, England was stood down from all refereeing duties before gradually being eased back into proceedings. 

England was named as the fourth official for Brentford‘s game against Burnley in October but didn’t referee another Premier League game until December 23, when he took charge of Luton’s clash with Newcastle. 

He has become increasingly involved in recent weeks, and was also on VAR duty for the FA Cup tie between Bournemouth and Leicester in February, with Michael Oliver as support VAR. 

England was criticised after Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool against Tottenham was ruled out 

Lines drawn by the VAR operators showed that Diaz was being played onside by a Tottenham defender

England received much criticism after Diaz’s opener for Liverpool against Tottenham was incorrectly disallowed. 

Refereeing bosses say that England ‘inexplicably prioritised efficiency over accuracy’ in ruling out Diaz’s strike. 

The full transcript for the discussion between officials regarding the incident was also released.

After England said ‘check complete’ to referee Simon Hooper, Tottenham restarted the game with a free-kick. After this happened, the laws of the game state that the VAR is not able to intervene to correct the call and award Liverpool their opener, hence why England could be heard saying ‘I can’t do anything, I can’t do anything, f***’ on the audio. 

Liverpool also came in for criticism from Gary Neville for their ‘vague and aggressive’ reaction to PGMOL’s apology over the incident. 

Neville wrote: ‘Jurgen Klopp handled the situation well last night after the game.

‘Most football fans will have had empathy with what happened and recognised it was wrong! 

‘However Liverpool’s statement tonight is a mistake! Talk of exploring all options (what does that mean!!!) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases along with being vague and aggressive.

Audio was released for the VAR check confirming that the decision was in fact onside, rather that the offside call announced at the game

VAR official England thought that the on-field decision was a goal and told referee Simon Hooper ‘check complete’ – when the goal had been in fact disallowed

‘Sorry we f***** up was enough!! I said this last night. Sorry should be respected and not undervalued.

‘This is a snap reaction that can always be wrong but I feel strongly about it.’

PGMOL acknowledged that a ‘significant human error’ had occurred in ruling out Diaz’s goal.

A statement read:’ PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool.

‘The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.

‘PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.

‘PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.’