Arsenal blunder referee Lee Mason dropped by Premier League after huge offside mistake as Mikel Arteta reacts to apology and Danny Murphy insists players and managers would vote to ‘get rid of VAR’

Premier League video assistant referee Lee Mason has been stood down for the next round of fixtures following his huge offside error that could cost Arsenal in the title race.

Video assistant referee Mason failed to spot an offside in the build-up to Brentford’s equalising goal in their 1-1 draw with the Gunners on Saturday.

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Offside lines weren’t even drawn as the infringement went under the radar and the Bees’ goal was allowed to stand - sparking outrage from the Arsenal camp.

Their 1-1 draw allowed Man City to close to gap at the top of the league to just three points, as Pep Guardiola’s side saw off Aston Villa with a 3-1 win.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited later confirmed Howard Webb had contacted Arsenal to ‘acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process’.

A statement continued: “Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.”

And Mason - who became a dedicated VAR at the start of last season following his retirement as a referee - has since been stood down from duty as punishment.

His name was absent from the appointments list published on the Premier League website at 12pm on Tuesday.

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Reacting to the statement, Arteta said on Tuesday: "We ended the game with a huge anger because that wasn’t a human error, that was a big not understanding your job and that’s not acceptable. That costs Arsenal two points.

"We appreciate the apology and the explanation at the same time. That’s it. We have to move on. That has made the players, staff and our fans stronger to pass this hurdle that they put on us."

It wasn’t the only blunder from officials at the weekend, with Brighton also contacted by Webb for the same conversation after VAR John Brooks wrongly disallowed a goal for the Seagulls against Crystal Palace, with the game ending 1-1.

Brooks was subsequently replaced as VAR for Monday night's Merseyside derby as Liverpool beat Everton 2-0, and Wednesday’s upcoming top of the table showdown between Arsenal and Man City.

However, he will return as a fourth official for Aston Villa vs Arsenal on Saturday.

Webb called a meeting of all Premier League officials at Stockley Park on Tuesday in the wake of the incidents as he sought to identify what went wrong.

Meanwhile, Mason has faced calls from former PGMOL general manager Keith Hackett to be sacked, after he failed to investigate the play immediately leading to Brentford's equaliser at the Emirates Stadium when Christian Norgaard appeared to be in an offside position before he crossed the ball across goal for Ivan Toney to score.

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It’s the second time Mason has been dropped from duty, too, having been stood down for a round of matches in September after wrongly disallowing a Newcastle goal for a foul in their match at home to Palace.

A PGMOL statement released on Tuesday night read: "A constructive meeting was held at Stockley Park today, led by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, to thoroughly review officiating errors in Premier League matches last weekend.

"There was a focus on error prevention and a reinforcement of best practice process with the aim of achieving accurate outcomes in an efficient manner going forward.

"We accept mistakes were made and we acted accordingly by calling a meeting and changing match official appointments where appropriate, however, we are encouraged by the way our officials have responded and are confident they will take the learnings forward, always with the aim of delivering high officiating standards for the benefit of the game."

A Premier League spokesperson said: "The Premier League sets high standards and is disappointed that PGMOL fell below those expectations last weekend. As a result the Premier League requested that PGMOL review and explain a number of incidents from the recent match round.

"Following discussions with PGMOL, and today's Select Group One review meeting, we support PGMOL's views on addressing these issues to improve performances going forward."

This latest VAR controversy sparked mass outrage across all Premier League fanbases, as well as pundits, with talkSPORT’s Danny Murphy insisting the majority of players and coaches in the top flight would vote to ditch the technology until it can be used effectively.

Although he admitted the 'incompetent' officials using VAR are to blame for the errors, not the system itself.

“You can’t have anything that is run by humans that doesn’t have error, you have to accept that,” said the former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder on talkSPORT.

“There is going to be human error in any system we have.

“VAR in itself is fine, it works to a degree, although some of the lack of camera angles and lines can maybe be improved.

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“Usually those mistakes are accepted when they’re 50/50 and they split opinion, people disagree, but when they’re becoming so regularly blatant mistakes that a 12-year-old could get right, there’s something wrong there.

“The incompetence is beyond belief. Who is leading that? Why aren’t they making better decisions, why can’t they see obvious decisions? Why can’t they do it? Why can they not do the job they are there to do?

“While they can’t do it, it doesn’t really matter whether we’ve got VAR or not, because they’ll make crap decisions regardless of whether it’s there or not.

“The simplest way to gauge interest would be to do a vote from all the players, managers and coaches of Premier League clubs and see how it comes back.

“I guarantee it would come back positive to get rid of VAR.”

Murphy added that Brentford’s allowed goal completely changed the game and the decision could well come back to haunt Arsenal in the title race with City now hot on their heels.

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“Brentford didn’t score, so if that goal hadn’t been given early on, Arsenal probably would have gone through a few gears,” he said.

“But when they go a goal down, the game changes. When the game is 0-0 Arsenal don’t have to change anything, so the result would have been different. When they scored they should have been 1-0 up, and the game would have been done.”