Lee Mason stood down from VAR duty for Premier League weekend fixtures after errors during Arsenal vs Brentford | Football News
Lee Mason has been stood down from VAR duty for this weekend’s fixtures after failing to spot an offside for Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal on Saturday.
The former on-field referee – who now solely works on VAR – came under scrutiny after Ivan Toney’s goal was allowed to stand, despite Christian Norgaard being offside as he crossed for the striker to score.
The PGMOL, responsible for refereeing in the Premier League, said the official had “forgotten” to draw the lines and did not fully investigate the build-up to the goal. They added that “human error” was behind the mistake.
When the upcoming weekend appointments for Premier League games were announced on Tuesday, Mason was not among the officials taking charge of VAR.
He was not selected earlier this season in the round following another high-profile error he made, when he disallowed a goal for Newcastle in their home match against Crystal Palace on September 3.
It follows the removal of John Brooks from Monday’s Merseyside derby and Wednesday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City.
He had been the lead VAR official during Crystal Palace’s draw with Brighton, in which a Pervis Estupinan goal was ruled out for offside. However, it was later revealed that the offside lines had been put in the wrong place and that he had, in fact, been onside.
Brooks does return to duty but away from Stockley Park, and will instead be fourth official for Aston Villa vs Arsenal on Saturday.
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Former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher takes a closer look at Brighton’s disallowed offside goal against Crystal Palace and puts the mistake down to human error
It was reported on Monday that referees’ chief Howard Webb has called a meeting of Premier League officials for Tuesday after two high-profile offside errors at the weekend.
The refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) issued a statement on Sunday confirming Webb had contacted Arsenal and Brighton to acknowledge and explain mistakes made in their matches on Saturday.
Ref Watch: Lee Mason completely forgot to check
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Former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher analyses how VAR, Lee Mason missed Christian Norgaard in an offside position in the build-up to Brentford’s goal against Arsenal
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Ref Watch:
“If the referee thinks he’s had a materialistic impact on the player, yes [they can be offside].
“When the free kick comes over, Ethan Pinnock – who starts in an offside position – that’s all he is. He can’t be given as offside at that point because he hasn’t impacted on the outcome of that ball.
“Pinnock gets back into an onside position and the next problem comes when Pinnock has come from an offside position, but when the ball is played while he’s onside, once he heads it, it’s Norgaard – he’s the player who is in the offside position.
“Norgaard then crosses and Ivan Toney scores.
“The VAR Lee Mason made two checks and they were very comprehensive – it took three minutes.
“He has deemed Pinnock is in an offside position – there’s no doubt about that. He’s decided because the ball is so high, he cannot head the ball so he’s not interfering with play because he’s not touched it.
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Dermot Gallagher explains and analyses why he believes Tomas Soucek’s handball against Chelsea should have been given as a penalty
“Does he impact on a defender? I think the VAR looks at it and he’s behind it, so it’s difficult. He judges it as not a foul, which is a subjective element.
“He’s concentrated on that so much that I think he switches off then. He’s forgotten to complete it through.
“It’s not panic, but it’s ‘I’ve taken three minutes and haven’t found an offence, people are going to wonder why I’ve checked it so often’.
“He then doesn’t check the Norgaard offside, and that’s where the problem occurred.
“It’s a human error bought on by the fact that time is eating away and three minutes are an eternity to a spectator. You can hear them, and that’s got to play on his mind.
“He’s just closed it off a bit too early.”
Former ref Hackett calls for Mason to be sacked
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has called for VAR official Lee Mason to be sacked for failing to rule out a goal which has dented Arsenal’s title challenge.
Hackett’s call to PGMOL chief Howard Webb comes amid fresh controversy surrounding the implementation of VAR with Chelsea and Brighton also aggrieved at controversial decisions which went against them.
The former official said in a Twitter post: “Howard Webb is now in charge of the PGMOL. One of the first things he should do is dismiss permanent VAR operator Lee Mason.
“This weekend, Mason lets another referee down by not disallowing the Brentford goal for offside. These are decisions that VAR should get right.”
