Ex-players should be in the VAR booth, claims Clattenburg after refereeing issue

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has called for a former professional player to be included in VAR decisions moving forward in Mail Sport's latest episode of 'It's All Kicking Off'.

The latest weekend of Premier League action saw yet another VAR controversy dominate the debate following Liverpool's contentious 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Luis Diaz had seemingly handed the Reds the lead in the first half of the game, only for the goal to be disallowed, despite Cristian Romero clearly playing the Colombian onside.

The issue then saw the Reds release a statement in response to PGMOL's apology for coming to an erroneous decision, in which the club declared that sporting integrity had been harmed by the mistake.

The game was also notable for two red cards handed to Liverpool players, with a straight red to Curtis Jones triggering discussions after he caught Yves Bissouma high after going for the ball in a tackle.

As a result, discussions around former players' involvement in the decision-making process have also resurfaced, with former official Clattenburg claiming that the move would only benefit referees at Stockley Park.

'Steve Baines became a football league referee, an ex-player and it worked for a point and we're talking about fast-track and I do believe that ex-players should be in the VAR,' Clattenburg told 'It's All Kicking Off'.

'I think this will help. I think they can be the AVAR or a second AVAR. So what they're doing is we've got two or three match officials and an ex-player inside the booth and when there's a penalty call they can have a clear discussion and then they can move forward together.

'I think that would help especially on recognising fouls, recognising clear red cards. Yes we all follow some criteria for example you know the challenge at the weekend Curtis Jones I think every referee would say red card.

'Players would say it's harsh some players would say it's clear red card - so what we could do is the referee could put their point across an ex-player, who could put their point across.

'Then we could hopefully come up with some consistency. So I'm all for it and I hope that in the future that they will trial it to see if it actually reduces mistakes because that's all we want at the end of the day.'

The Diaz incident has however been the standout blunder from VAR, with suggestions ensuing that the game should be replayed as a result of the error - although Clattenburg dismissed such calls.

Instead, he argued that better communication is needed from refereeing teams, with reports suggesting that Darren England - who manned the VAR in north London - thought he was checking whether the goal was legitimate, rather than whether it was offside.

Believing that he was affirming if the goal should stand - rather than outlining why it should be ruled out - he is thought to have checked for offside, hence why the decision

'Darren England didn't understand while watching the match live that the actual original decision on the field was offside, and that's the communication problem.

'I think what we need to look at going forward is better communication, and I know PGMOL have employed Phil Bentham, who was an ex-Ruby League referee, to help with the communication.

'What I find is they're using basic words and not telling the overall picture. So when you listen to TMO (in Rugby), you listen to cricket, for example, sports that we can learn from, the communication is precise, clear, and everybody understands it.

'Onside, check complete. If you don't hear onside correct, it could mean offside if you don't hear it clearly. So offside, onside, check complete. For me the referee could easily say that the original decision is offside. The VR then says "Okay, the original decision is offside. I've checked the offside. It's onside, therefore the goal should be allowed." Check complete.'