A leading sports lawyer has revealed how the Premier League could be forced to replay Liverpool’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Reds saw their unbeaten start to the Premier League season end on Saturday evening when they were beaten 2-1 by Ange Postecoglou’s side. A stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip came after Son Heung-min and Cody Gakpo had both scored.
However, the defeat only told half of the story, as Liverpool were left incensed after having a goal wrongly ruled out for offside during the opening 45 minutes, with the game still goalless. The PGMOL admitted immediately after the game that ‘a significant human error occurred’ during the review of the goal.
The audio recordings of discussions between the match officials around Diaz’s disallowed goal were made public on Tuesday night, and Stephen Taylor Heath, co-head of sports law at JMW Solicitors, has revealed there is a pathway for a replay to be enforced. However, it is worth pointing out that Liverpool have not called for the game to be replayed.
Speaking to the Mirror, Taylor Heath explained: “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.”
