Lee Mason steps down from PGMOL and Premier League after VAR error

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has confirmed in a statement that Mason has left the organisation by mutual consent.

Mason failed to spot an offside in the buildup to Brentford's equaliser against Arsenal last weekend, with the Bees going on to take a point from the game at Emirates Stadium.

On the same day, VAR John Brooks made an error in Brighton's game against Crystal Palace where he wrongly disallowed a goal.

The decision was described as "human error" by chief referring officer Howard Webb who apologised to both Arsenal and Brighton after their respective games.

The statement said:

“PGMOL can confirm that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason has departed the organisation by mutual consent.

“Lee was 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. His full career in the professional game saw the 51-year-old officiate in over 500 fixtures after he progressed to the Football League in 1998.

“We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the professional game and wish him all the best for the future.”

After the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted that he had “huge anger and disappointment” once he had seen the VAR error.

“We ended the game, after analysing all the evidence that we’ve had with the images, with a huge anger and disappointment.

“That wasn’t a human error, that was a big not conceiving and understanding your job and that’s not acceptable, I’m sorry. That costs Arsenal two points that’s not going to be restored. We’re going to have to find those two points somewhere in the league.

“At the same time we appreciate the apology and the explanations and we got a lot of sympathy from colleagues in the industry and in football who say that we cannot play the game with the integrity like we do. That’s it. We have to move on.

“It’s not for me to judge. It’s not about someone making a mistake and then let’s crucify him. It’s trying to do the best that we can together to have a fairer sport and make the decisions clearer and better. Hopefully that will help because of what happened last weekend.”