Sports Law specialist discusses how Liverpool could get a rematch in the Premier League

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A Sports Law official shed more light on how Liverpool can get their much-needed rematch, following PGMOL’s (the Premier League’s refereeing body’s) greatest blunder of the season.

While speaking to Mirror Football, Stephen Taylor Heath, who is a co-head of sports law at JMW Solicitors revealed that ‘Rule L18 outlines that the Premier League board has the power to order a league match to be replayed, provided that recommendation to that effect has been made by a commission under Rule W51.

‘In addition to this, under rule W1, the Premier League’s board has the power to inquire about any suspected breach of rules, including those made by a match official, while rule N4 ensures that each match official agrees to be bound by the laws of the game as well as any protocols and FA rules.

‘There is therefore a possibility that Liverpool could lobby the Premier League board to convene a commission which would have the power, among others, to order the match to be replayed.

‘To mount a general legal case outside of the Premier League regulations, a starting point would normally have to be to establish a contractual nexus between the club and the officials that has been breached or a duty of care and negligence causing loss.’

The two VAR officials guilty of cancelling Liverpool’s Luis Diaz’ goal are currently on a two-match suspension. Also, they released a statement in the wake of calls to scrap VAR.

‘PGMOL can confirm that we have carried out a review into the circumstances which led to the Luis Diaz goal being incorrectly disallowed for offside in the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC.

‘We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture. A detailed report, including the key learnings and immediate actions taken, alongside the audio between the on-field officials and VAR team has been submitted to the Premier League, who have shared it with Liverpool FC and subsequently all other Premier League Clubs.

‘The review of the on-field and VAR decision-making processes and application of the decision-making principles has identified the following key learnings to mitigate against the risk of a future error:

– Guidance to Video Match Officials has always emphasised the need for efficiency, but never at the expense of accuracy. This principle will be clearly reiterated

– A new VAR Communication Protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions

– As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials

‘PGMOL are committed to enhancing VAR performance through a new training programme which started this season and focuses on process and best practice for all VARs, AVARs and Replay Operators in their specific roles. While we have a number of FIFA-recognised VARs, work is ongoing to create a dedicated pool of VAR specialists.

‘The VAR and AVAR in question were removed from their remaining fixtures in Match Round 7 in the Premier League and have not been included in the appointments for Match Round 8 this weekend. PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.’

According to sports law specialist Stephen Taylor Heath, ‘It would be very difficult for Liverpool to establish that the error itself cost them points in a legal sense given the infinite scenarios that could have arisen had the goal stood—for example, it is not the same as a horse race where the error is as to the winner at the end of a race. It is also worth noting that Liverpool can only really assess the potential impact of this decision come the end of the season.’

A rematch might come later.