Liverpool Says it Will ‘Explore the Range of Options Available’ After VAR Controversy at Tottenham 

Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 30, 2023 Liverpool's Luis Diaz scores a goal that is later disallowed. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 30, 2023 Liverpool's Luis Diaz scores a goal that is later disallowed. (Reuters)
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Liverpool Says it Will ‘Explore the Range of Options Available’ After VAR Controversy at Tottenham 

Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 30, 2023 Liverpool's Luis Diaz scores a goal that is later disallowed. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 30, 2023 Liverpool's Luis Diaz scores a goal that is later disallowed. (Reuters)

Liverpool criticized the Professional Game Match Officials Limited on Sunday and warned it will “explore the range of options available” following the VAR controversy at Tottenham.

PGMOL, the referees’ governing body in England, admitted Video Assistant Referee officials Darren England and Dan Cook failed to act after Luis Diaz’ 34th-minute strike at Tottenham on Saturday was wrongly disallowed for offside. Still images of the incident showed Tottenham's Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside.

The decision was made when the Premier League match was goalless but after Curtis Jones had been contentiously sent off following Darren England’s intervention. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1, ending the game with nine players.

The officials were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend but Liverpool says it will pursue the matter.

A 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. 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."

Liverpool said it was “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 categorized as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable,” the club's statement added. “Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.”

Liverpool said it need to explore its options, “given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”

PGMOL had earlier acknowledged that “a significant human error” occurred in the first half of the game and said it would conduct a full review.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”