Fans Demand Replay Of Tottenham-Liverpool Match Following VAR fiasco

Liverpool FC fans are up in arms on social media and are demanding a replay of their club's 2-1 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League clash over the weekend. However, the club itself has not asked for a replay, but is instead calling for long-term reforms to processes that could prevent the same from happening again in the future.

Liverpool issue a controversial statement

While their fans have been stirring up a lot of noise since the conclusion of the match, Liverpool FC took a moment before finally sharing a statement on the matter. They took to their official website to condemn the errors made by the match officials while also calling for long-term reforms which they feel will benefit not just themselves but the sport in general.

The statement read: "Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL's admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined."

The acknowledgement comes after the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) confirmed that Liverpool's disallowed goal was the result of a "significant human error" from the VAR team.

Liverpool continued: "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."

They then questioned why the referees were quick to declare that the VAR check had been completed and later demanded to be given a copy of the conversation that took place between the VAR room and the on-field referee.

"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," said the club.

At no point did Liverpool call for the match to be replayed, unlike many of their fans. However, that did not stop others from slamming the club by pointing out VAR decisions that have gone in their favour in the past. Others also pointed out that should the Tottenham vs. Liverpool match be replayed, then a number of other games throughout the past several years in various competitions should also be replayed.

What caused the debate?

To those unfamiliar with the controversy, the Tottenham vs. Liverpool match over the weekend concluded in a 2-1 victory for Spurs, but Liverpool striker Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out in the early stages of the match.

VAR Darren England saw that Diaz was onside and quickly gave the "check complete" signal to the on-field referee thinking that he had awarded the goal. He "forgot" that the goal was initially ruled offside and that the decision should have been reversed. Instead, play was allowed to continue at 0-0 at that point.

The PGMOL apologised for the mistake after the match, but the Reds have obviously lost at least two points as the match could have finished in a draw.

The PGMOL statement read: "PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool. The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene."

LIVERPOOL have been fined for their ill-discipline in their controversial defeat to Tottenham.

Meanwhile, as if losing the match after having one of their goals disallowed wasn't enough, Liverpool have reportedly been slapped with a fine by the FA.

It may be remembered that the Reds were reduced to nine men after Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were both sent off. In total, Liverpool received seven booking throughout the match, leading the FA to sanction them for ill-discipline to the tune of £25,000.

The sanction is reportedly given if teams receive six or more bookings in any given match.