Communication changes coming to VAR, as chiefs admit standards fell short

REFEREES' body, the PGMOL, have vowed to change their communication protocols to prevent another embarrassing VAR blunder.

- Dan Kilpatrick

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.