Premier League VAR referee leaves by ´mutual consent after major blunders

Premier League VAR referee Lee Mason will no longer officiate in any matches after the PGMOL confirmed that he was to leave by “mutual consent.”

The announcement confirmed on Saturday, February 18 follows a meeting of all officials earlier in the week following two poor decisions taken by VAR referees over the weekend, one of these involving Mason.

He allowed an equaliser that cost Arsenal the full points against Brentford after failing to check whether a player was offside. That blunder left the club fuming as it could prove costly in their bid to win the title.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta told the Daily Mail that: “I will only be satisfied if they give the two points back.

“I appreciate the sincere, genuine apologies, but it doesn’t take away the fact we have two points fewer. Everyone makes mistakes but that was something else. I wasn’t having it, the club wasn’t having it.

“There was huge anger and disappointment because that wasn’t human error, that was a big misunderstanding of your job. That is not acceptable, I’m sorry. It cost Arsenal two points, we’ll have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.”

Howard Webb, the man in charge of all referees was clearly unhappy as well with the Brighton v Crystal Palace game also ending in a stalemate due to a similar poor VAR decision.

Mason is a highly experienced referee with more than 15 years in the top flight, having overseen more than 280 games and more than 500 in professional football. He has been a VAR referee since the start of the 2022 – 23 season.

Mason was a Premier League referee for 15 years and oversaw 287 top-flight matches during that time. He stopped after the 2020-21 season and became a full-time VAR the following campaign.

Premier League VAR referee decisions have blighted the game for some time leaving many clubs, managers and players incensed. Whether the departure of Lee Mason will change anything remains to be seen.

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