VAR official dropped ahead of Liverpool-Arsenal after Fulham error

Michael Salisbury, the VAR official at the centre of Chelsea’s controversial win over Fulham on Saturday, has been dropped from his duties ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal at Anfield.

Salisbury has been replaced by John Brooks after the Professional Game Match Officials Board [PGMOL] acknowledged an error was made in disallowing Fulham’s opening goal at Stamford Bridge.

Josh King’s goal was disallowed following a lengthy VAR review, with Salisbury instructing on-field referee Robert Jones to consult the pitchside monitor and assess a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.

The PGMOL did not think the incident met the the “high bar” required for intervention and was not a clear and obvious error and acknowledged that the “referee’s call” should have stood.

Referee Jones judged there had been a “careless challenge” on Trevoh Chalobah by Muniz in the build-up, with Fulham manager Marco Silva furious at the decision. Howard Webb has contacted Fulham following the error.

“Unbelievable the goal was disallowed,” said Silva after the 2-0 defeat, with the Fulham boss also unhappy with the amount of stoppage time at the end of the first half in which Joao Pedro scored Chelsea’s first goal.

“After the second corner it was already nine minutes of extra-time. The game didn’t stop during the eight minutes, so the game should be stopped after the first corner.”

Chris Kavanagh remains the on-field referee for the meeting between Liverpool and Arsenal, with Brooks the VAR.