Liverpool have issued a response to the PGMOL after the refereeing body admitted to a costly VAR error in the Reds' encounter against Tottenham.
Jurgen Klopp's side released a statement after the PGMOL admitted Luis Diaz's goal at Tottenham was incorrectly disallowed for offside after the VAR mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal.
The referee body admitted after Tottenham's 2-1 win over Liverpool that "a significant human error occurred" when Diaz's strike was ruled out, adding: "This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention."
Indeed, it was initially thought that VAR Darren England had failed to check whether a Tottenham defender had played Diaz onside by drawing the on-screen lines.
However the PGMOL claimed that VAR incorrectly thought the on-field decision was that a goal had been awarded, when in fact it had been the opposite. This resulted in England, despite realising that Diaz was onside, announcing "check complete" and the goal being ruled out.
In a statement, Liverpool said on Sunday that the explanation for the decision was "unacceptable" and that they planned to explore a "range of options available" amid sporting integrity having been undermined.
The club statement read: "We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR."It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention."That such failings have already been categorised as “significant human error” is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
"This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
"In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution."
There was less than 40 seconds between Diaz's shot hitting the back of the net and play being restarted. Furthermore, there was less than 10 seconds between TV viewers being shown a VAR review was taking place and the check being completed.
Just two minutes after the incident, Heung-Min Son netted the game's opening goal.
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