MIKEL Arteta will “only be satisfied” if his Arsenal side are given two points back for the VAR error that allowed Brentford’s equaliser to stand in Saturday’s Premier League match.
Referees’ body PGMOL has apologised to Arsenal after “human error” was to blame for the incorrect VAR decision.
VAR operator Lee Mason did not draw the guidelines to check for offside on Ivan Toney’s equaliser.
“It wasn’t human error, it was not understanding your job,” said Arteta.
“That’s not acceptable, I’m sorry.
“It cost Arsenal two points that are not going to be restored so we are going to have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.”
Mason has not been selected for any Premier League matches this weekend.
PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has contacted Arsenal to “acknowledge and explain the significant error” that occurred.
Former Premier League referee Webb, who took over the role at the end of last year, also apologised to Brighton after they had a goal disallowed for offside against Crystal Palace on Saturday because the VAR guidelines were wrongly drawn.
John Brooks, who was VAR operator for the Brighton game and was replaced for Monday’s Merseyside derby and Arsenal’s game with Manchester City on Wednesday, has been appointed as the fourth official for Saturday’s Aston Villa-Arsenal match.
Webb then called a meeting for Premier League referees on Tuesday to discuss mistakes in the use of VAR at the weekend.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PGMOL said the “constructive meeting” focused on “error prevention and a reinforcement of best practice process with the aim of achieving accurate outcomes in an efficient manner going forward”.
