Gareth Southgate SLAMS VAR and says he never wanted it

10/05/2023 Soccer

Gareth Southgate SLAMS VAR, says he never wanted it and wishes people ‘just accept referees’ decisions’ – following the ‘significant error’ which led to Luis Diaz’s strike against Tottenham being disallowed

  • VAR has come under intense scrutiny after Tottenham’s contentious win 
  • Gareth Southgate has named his squad for Australia and Italy fixtures
  • Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’

Gareth Southgate has attacked VAR following the Luis Diaz controversy that has left the system under the microscope like never before.

Diaz wrongly had a goal ruled out for offside as Liverpool were beaten at Tottenham last Saturday, leading Reds boss Jurgen Klopp to demand the game be replayed.

England boss Southgate said: ‘I wasn’t for it in the first place. I don’t like it. We should just accept referees’ decisions.

‘But it’s unlikely to go back to a world without technology. It was never going to resolve every issue and there is no solution that will achieve that.’

Diaz saw his perfectly legitimate goal disallowed after VAR Darren England made a mistake during last Saturday’s Premier League match.

Gareth Southgate criticised VAR as he named his latest squad for Australia and Italy fixtures

PGMOL admitted that a ‘significant human error’ had led to Luis Diaz’s goal being disallowed and have since released the audio of VAR’s discussion with the on-field referee to the public

The PGMOL have released the full audio from the VAR hub during Liverpool ‘s controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, that saw referee Simon Hooper incorrectly disallow the Reds a goal


VAR official Darren England (left) and VAR assistant Dan Cook (right) were dropped from their roles for upcoming fixtures after the high-profile error

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By the time the error was realised, play had already restarted and Liverpool went on to lose the match 2-1.

Speaking on Wednesday, Klopp said: ‘Yes, it was a mistake, an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for is afterwards.

‘And I can say immediately, even probably some people don’t want me to say, but not as the manager of Liverpool so much, more as a football person, I think the outcome should be a replay.

‘That’s how it is, probably will not happen.’ He then added: I think the situation is that unprecedented, that it didn’t happen before in that moment.’

The fixture, which Spurs won thanks to Joel Matip’s own goal at the death having finally cracked the Reds’ nine men, isn’t likely to be replayed.

That’s despite referees’ chiefs admitting it was down to a ‘significant human error.’ England wrongly believed the on-field decision had been a goal rather than offside, so said ‘check complete’ once he’d confirmed Colombian winger Diaz was onside. 

An audio recording of the exchange between on-field referee Simon Hooper and the VAR team at Stockley Park revealed England saying ‘oh f***’ as he realised his mistake. 

England and his assistant VAR Dan Cook have been dropped from their roles for this weekend’s fixtures.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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