Arsenal and Brighton contacted as PGMOL admit 'significant errors' on offsides by VAR
Arsenal and Brighton were hard done by following VAR offside errors, the body responsible for match officials has admitted
Arsenal and Brighton have been contacted by the PGMOL after what the body responsible for match officials across English football has described as two "significant errors" in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Gunners were left frustrated by Brentford's equaliser at the Emirates Stadium, after VAR failed to spot Christian Norgaard returning from an offside position before assisting team-mate Ivan Toney.
"I have just watched it back and it was offside," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said after the game. And he has been proved right as PGMOL have now admitted that offside lines were not applied by the video assistant referee, Lee Mason.
Brighton were also on the wrong end of another VAR error as Pervis Estupinan's strike was incorrectly ruled out in the Seagulls' 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
In this case, the offside line was placed in the wrong position by video assistant referee John Brooks, and also by the Hawk-Eye technology operator.
Both decisions proved costly as both Arsenal and Brighton had to settle for a point which could have been three.
And in a statement on Sunday, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said: "PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.
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"Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL."
Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.