VAR who wrongly disallowed goal replaced for two major Premier League matches
John Brooks will no longer referee two Premier League games this week, with his mistake being one of two major offside errors by video assistant referees during Saturday's action.
Monday 13 February 2023 13:54, UK
The video assistant referee who wrongly disallowed a Brighton goal against Crystal Palace at the weekend has been replaced for two Premier League matches he was due to officiate this week.
John Brooks ruled out a goal by Pervis Estupinan after drawing the offside lines against the wrong Palace player.
It was one of two major offside errors by video assistant referees (VARs) during Saturday's action.
Brooks had been due to act as VAR for Monday night's Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool and the Arsenal v Manchester City match on Wednesday.
However, the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) group, which officiates all Premier League matches, has confirmed Brooks has been replaced by Andre Marriner and David Coote respectively for those matches.
Summit called after 'significant errors'
PGMOL's chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has called a referees' meeting for Tuesday in the wake of the two high-profile errors made in the Premier League over the weekend.
The other involved VAR Lee Mason, who failed to check an offside in the build-up to Ivan Toney's equaliser for Brentford in their match against Arsenal.
PGMOL admitted "significant errors" in the offside decisions that went against Arsenal and Brighton and said they were down to "human error".
Appointments for the next round of Premier League matches are due to be confirmed at midday on Tuesday.
PGMOL has not commented on whether Mason will be involved.
He was not selected earlier this season in the round of games immediately following another high-profile error, when he disallowed a goal for Newcastle in their home match against Crystal Palace on 3 September.
Webb's impact since his return to the English game at the end of last year after a stint managing referees in the US has largely been well received.
He presented to clubs at Friday's Premier League shareholders' meeting and has raised the bar for VAR intervention on subjective decisions so that only clear and obvious errors are now being reviewed.
Webb sees the purpose of Tuesday's meeting as being to identify the issues from the weekend, reflect on them, review them and move forward.
He is keen to ensure officials have the correct support and coaching, and VARs already have dedicated assistance from former rugby league referee Phil Bentham.
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'Serial offender should be sacked'
Meanwhile, Keith Hackett, a former referee and former PGMOL general manager, has called for Mason to be sacked.
He described the VAR as a "serial offender" in his column for The Daily Telegraph and added: "Lee would be towards the bottom in the list of best performers. He has seemingly passed the point of requiring operational assistance - he does not have a place any more."
In relation to Saturday's match between Arsenal and Brentford, Mason failed to investigate the play directly preceding Brentford's goal, when Christian Norgaard appeared to be in an offside position before he hooked the ball back across goal for Toney to score.
The failure to check for an offside could have serious consequences for Arsenal as they are locked in a title race with Manchester City, and it denied them three points.
In September, Newcastle were initially awarded a goal against Crystal Palace, but Mason disallowed it on review for a foul by Magpies forward Joe Willock on Eagles goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
However, replays indicated Willock had been pushed into Guaita by Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell.