The Premier League could decide to replay Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Liverpool if an established committee finds that match officials broke the laws of the game by disallowing Luis Diaz’s goal.
Audio of the incident will be released soon by refereeing body PGMOL, which is seeking as much transparency as possible after Saturday night’s embarrassing howling, but only after Liverpool have been allowed to assess what communication took place between the referee Simon Hooper and VAR, Darren England. and his assistant Dan Cook.
England and Cook have been sidelined by PGMOL, but Hooper acted as fourth official during Monday night’s match between Fulham and Chelsea, suggesting he has been cleared.
The Reds did not ask for the match to be replayed, but a carefully worded statement said they would “consider the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
According to experts, this suggests that they have already sought legal advice.
If they ultimately want the game to be replayed after the audio is recorded, there is a way to achieve this.
Stephen Taylor Heath, joint head of sports law at JMW Solicitors, told Football: “Rule L18 states that the Premier League board has the power to order the replay of a Championship match subject to a recommendation to this effect by a committee.” according to rule W51.
“Furthermore, under Rule W1, the Premier League Board has the power to investigate any suspected breach of the rules, including those committed by a match official, while Rule N4 ensures that Each match official agrees to be bound by the laws of the Premier League League Game and all FA protocols and rules.
Learn moreWatch the Premier League, Champions League and more“It is therefore possible that Liverpool will put pressure on the Premier League board to set up a committee which would, among other things, have the power to order a replay of the match.”
“To exclude a general dispute from the Premier League regulations, a starting point would normally be to establish a contractual relationship between the club and officials which has been breached, or a duty of care and negligence resulting in a loss.”
None the less, it would be legally difficult for Liverpool to claim to have lost points in these circumstances – and it would not be until the end of the campaign that the potential impact of the referees’ error could be fully assessed.
Taylor Heath added: “While it has been established that athletes owe a duty of care to each other – for example in the event of personal injury – it would be very difficult for Liverpool to prove that the mistake itself cost them points in the legal sense, given the countless scenarios.” could have happened if the finish had held – this is not the same as a horse race, for example, where the mistake is choosing the winner at the end of a race.
“It is also worth noting that Liverpool cannot truly assess the potential impact of this decision until the end of the season.”
