Referees chief Howard Webb contacts Arsenal, Brighton to explain ‘significant VAR errors’

Referees chief Howard Webb has contacted Arsenal and Brighton to explain “significant errors” in the VAR process during their matches on Saturday.

Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Brentford in which Ivan Toney’s equaliser should have been ruled out for an offside in the build-up and Brighton had a first-half strike by Pervis Estupinan wrongly disallowed for offside in their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.

The PGMOL today responded with a statement confirming both clubs had been contact about the mistakes.

“PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.

“Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.”

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has called for VAR official Lee Mason to be sacked for failing to rule out Toney’s equaliser.

The PA news agency understands Mason did not fully investigate an offside decision against Brentford’s Christian Norgaard during the build-up to Toney’s leveller at the Emirates Stadium.

Hackett’s call to 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.”

The Gunners were leading courtesy of Leandro Trossard’s strike when Toney headed home from close range after Norgaard had turned the ball back across goal.

After a lengthy delay, referee Peter Bankes was advised to award a goal, much to the annoyance of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and his players.

PA understands a block from Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock on Gabriel Magalhaes as Mathias Jensen swung a free-kick into the box was checked and cleared, but also that VAR official Mason did not fully investigate an offside call against Norgaard with no lines drawn on the screen to determine whether the Denmark international should have been penalised.

Arteta’s misgivings were matched by those of Chelsea counterpart Graham Potter, who saw his side…