Blundering official John Brooks is down as VAR for this week’s title showdown

Brooks was in charge of VAR for Brighton‘s trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon and made a ‘significant error‘ in disallowing Pervis Estupinan’s first half effort because he drew the offside lines from the wrong defender. 

His error was one of two that the PGMOL apologised for, the other being Lee Mason forgetting to draw the lines to adjudge whether Christian Norgaard was standing in an offside position when he crossed for Ivan Toney to equalise at the Emirates.

Brooks is also down as VAR for Monday night’s Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton. 

It had been suggested that the two blundering officials could be axed as a result of their errors, with Sportsmail revealing on Sunday that Howard Webb, the referees’ chief, had summoned all officials to Stockley Park on Tuesday for an urgent summit following the two embarrassing mistakes. 

John Brooks – who made the error in disallowing Brighton’s opener – is down for both Monday’s Merseyside derby and the title showdown on We

Webb, who was appointed the PGMOL’s first refereeing officer in August last year, contacted both clubs to apologise and ‘acknowledge significant errors in the VAR process’. 

A statement released by the refereeing body said the errors were being ‘thoroughly reviewed’ as Webb desperately tries maintain some public confidence in an increasingly maligned system. 

The PGMOL’s statement read: ‘Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process.

‘Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed.’

Brooks wrongly ruled out Pervis Estupinan’s effort on Saturday because he drew the offside lines from the wrong defender

Both errors could hold enormous ramifications for both sides’ respective ambitions this season, with Arsenal chasing a first Premier League crown in 19 years and Brighton chasing European qualification. 

The two clubs were infuriated by the decisions, with Mikel Arteta expressing his frustration after a result that opened the door to Manchester City usurping his side at the top of the Premier League as soon as Wednesday night. 

‘I just looked back and it is offside,’ said Arteta. ‘They will probably give an explanation later in the week but today we have not got one.

VAR Lee Mason forgot to draw offside lines when assessing Ivan Toney’s goal for Brentford 

‘You have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules. Suddenly you change the rules, and then you have to change your principles.’

Brighton, meanwhile, were left to also rue two points dropped – though manager Roberto De Zerbi was calm in his post-match interview regarding the controversy, the club released a statement first revealing contact from the PGMOL to apologise for the egregious error. 

‘As was confirmed to the club by PGMOL last night, a serious error was made in disallowing Pervis Estupinan’s goal at Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon,’ the club said.

Arsenal meet Manchester City for first time in the Premier League this season on Wednesday

‘The lines drawn in the VAR room to determine whether Pervis was in an offside position were drawn incorrectly, and the goal should have stood.

‘While hugely disappointed by the error, the club has accepted PGMOL’s apology and will not be making any further comment.’

In addition to the incorrect offside decisions, Chelsea also felt they fell victim to poor refereeing over the weekend with Tomas Soucek’s handling of Conor Gallagher’s shot not pulled up initially by referee Craig Pawson and then by Mark Scholes on VAR.