Meet the replay operator and ‘Oli’ who wanted to stop Liverpool game after VAR error
The fallout from the release of the audio recordings of discussions between the match officials around Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal has been continuing.
Following a request from Liverpool, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited took the decision to release the full audio around why Diaz’s goal had been wrongly ruled out for offside during the 2-1 defeat to Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Diaz was flagged offside after scoring, yet replays showed he was actually onside. But Darren England, the VAR, mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, leading him to tell Simon Hooper, the referee, that the check was complete.
In the audio (full transcript here) England says the check is ‘perfect’ before swearing when he realises a mistake has been made. After releasing the audio on Tuesday, PGMOL said the error was a result of a ‘lapse of concentration and loss of focus’.
However, the audio also reveals that Oli Kohout, the VAR Hub Ops executive, called for the game to be delayed. Kohout, it appears, made the request on two separate occasions, but the officials decided to play on as the game had already restarted and there was nothing they could do.
Kohout, along with Mo Abby, who was the replay operator, have received widespread praise for the way they acted during the sorry episode.
Writing on X on Tuesday night, Jamie Carragher said: “The video operator is trying to save the situation for the VAR & AVAR one second after Spurs take the free kick!”
Kohout joined the PGMOL in November last year and has the official job title of VAR hub operations executive. Prior to joining the PGMOL, Kohout spent four years at Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd, the company responsible for goal-line technology.
During his four years at Hawk-Eye, Kohout’s roles included football systems operator (VAR), advanced systems lead, and football area manager. He also has a degree in sports technology from Loughborough University.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Abby was born in April 1993 in Heesch, Netherlands. He is currently the advanced systems lead at Hawk-Eye Innovations, specifically delivering VAR services to the Premier League and also UEFA and FIFA competitions.
He graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in computer system engineering and also used to work as a matchday steward at West Ham United.
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Dad of Liverpool star reveals two Premier League clubs were ‘heavily interested’ in summer signing
Liverpool signed Alexis Mac Allister seemingly without any concrete competition this summer, given that the deal was swiftly completed without much fuss.
However, according to the latest news, there were two top clubs in England that were ‘heavily interested’ in signing the World Cup winner. Fresh off a career-best season which saw him triumph in Qatar, he had also been an integral figure at Brighton helping them to secure European football for the first time in their history – his stock was at an all-time high.
In the end, it was Liverpool who managed to secure a £35m deal, which sources suggesting it could rise to £55m – but it was clearly a bargain in a window where outrageous sums of money were being thrown around. Mac Allister has enjoyed a strong start on Merseyside so far, starting in all seven of their league games to date, recording his first assist against West Ham during the 3-1 victory last weekend.
And now it has been revealed that there was concrete interest from Liverpool’s rivals in Chelsea and Manchester City – according to Mac Allister’s father, Carlos.
“The reason why Alexis went to Liverpool is because they showed so much interest in having him on their team,” Carlos began. “They showed a desire to count on him and we wanted Alexis to go to a team where he could be settled for the start of pre-season; move on the first day of the transfer window – all that stuff.”
“This was so important because we wanted him to have a good preparation with the team he decided to sign with.
His father also claimed that manager Jurgen Klopp was key in the transfer, and clearly, his intervention was vital as the deal was concluded in early June before Liverpool headed on pre-season
“Jurgen Klopp was crucial a figure in the transfer. He was talking with Alexis,” Carlos continued. “When he received the phone call from Jurgen it was important in deciding which team he should choose to play for.
“Already Alexis likes to work with Jurgen, and Jurgen likes to work with Alexis. “I think that is very important for a player train at a place where you feel loved, and also your trainer and mates trust you at every moment.”
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How VAR will change after shambolic Tottenham vs Liverpool controversyReferees’ body, the PGMOL, have vowed to change their communication protocols to prevent another embarrassing VAR blunder.
The audio from the bungled VAR call which cost Liverpool the opening goal in Saturday’s defeat at Tottenham was released last night, confirming that VAR Darren England was immediately told he had made a mistake but felt unable to correct it.
Luis Diaz’s strike was incorrectly flagged offside, but England (below) failed to correct the error on reviewing the footage because he mistakenly believed a goal had been awarded by the on-field officials.
Liverpool demanded the audio of the incident from the PGMOL, which was released by the Premier League along with a statement from the referees’ body acknowledging that “standards fell short of expectations” and revealing the findings of an internal review into the incident. PGMOL promised to introduce new protocols for communication after the audio revealed confusion in the operating rooms.
Within seconds of Spurs restarting the game with a free-kick, England was told by the relay operator, who manages the technology: “The onfield decision was offside. Are you happy with this?” England initially replies: “Yeah”, before being told by assistant VAR, Dan Cook: “That’s wrong, that, Daz.”
The laws of the game state that once play has restarted, the VAR is unable to change a decision.
When repeatedly told by the relay operator that the on-field decision was offside and that Oli Kohout, the VAR hub operations executive in a separate room, was requesting for the game to be delayed, England replies: “They’ve restarted the game… I can’t do anything.” Referee Simon Hooper could not hear audio from the VAR room, only comments directed at him, which included England saying: “Check complete, that’s fine, perfect,” after confirming that Diaz was onside.
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