Lee Mason No Longer A Premier League VAR Referee After Costly Error In Arsenal Vs Brentford Game... PGMOL Confirms.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Lee Mason has reportedly left PGMOL by mutual consent following his costly mistake in Arsenal's draw with Brentford on Saturday, February 11.


New signing Leandro Trossard who replaced Gabriel Martinelli, scored his first goal for Premier League leaders Arsenal but they were left frustrated as Ivan Toney secured a controversial 1-1 draw for Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.

Toney had pounced in the 72nd minute to nod in Christian Norgaard’s cross.


It happened that Lee Mason who was the VAR of the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Brentford, faced a huge backlash for failing to pick out an offside incident that led to Brentford's equaliser.

Despite a lengthy VAR check of over three minutes, Lee Mason 'forgot' to apply the lines and don't d not fully investigate the incident which would have shown Christian Norgaard standing in an offside position before assisting Ivan Toney's equaliser.


The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) who is responsible for refereeing in the Premier League, described the decision as "human error", with chief refereeing officer Howard Webb sending Arsenal an official apology for the mistake which saw them drop vital points in the title race. 

Webb acknowledged "significant errors in the VAR process" as the technology endured one of its worst weekends.



Though furious Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta refused the apology from PGMOL, calling the error "not acceptable". He said the error had cost the Gunners two points, and could prove costly in their race to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title.


According to reports, this would be the second time that Mason had been reprimanded for his high-profile catastrophic errors as a VAR official this season. The first came when he incorrectly disallowed a goal for Newcastle against Crystal Palace in September.


The 51-year-old, had worked as a Premier League referee for 15 years and oversaw 287 top-flight matches during that time, with his last coming during the closing stages of the 2021/22 season. 

Mason has been working solely as a VAR this season, but he will no longer officiate in the Premier League.


PGMOL announced on Friday evening, that Lee Mason has left the refereeing organisation by mutual consent.

"We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the professional game and wish him all the best for the future." Reads a statement by PGMOL.



Meanwhile the draw with Brentford allowed champions Manchester City to close to within three points of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and Pep Guardiola's side then went above the Gunners with a 3-1 victory in the game between both sides on Wednesday night.









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