Premier League referee suffers UEFA demotion after Virgil van Dijk’s scathing comment

Virgil van Dijk and the Netherlands were left furious with the decision to rule out what they believed to be a legitimate goal against France at Euro 2024. The Liverpool captain led the protests to on-field referee Anthony Taylor.

Assistant referee Adam Nunn raised the flag to rule out the goal after Taylor told him that Denzel Dumfries had interfered with play, preventing the France goalkeeper from diving to save a shot from Xavi Simons. But the frustration only grew with the length of the resulting VAR check.

After the match, Van Dijk directed a pointed comment at the referees. “I scored a goal which is a fair goal,” Van Dijk insisted after the match. “He had no chance to get into that corner. But yes, the English referee decided to disallow it.”

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Stuart Attwell was on VAR duty and it took over two minutes for the decision to be upheld and play on. Attwell also checked a potential penalty kick after the offside decision extended the delay.

Van Dijk’s comment about the “English referee” inevitably led to a discussion about Premier League officials, and most of the tournament saw quick calls compared to lengthy checks in the English top flight. With Taylor on the field, there happened to be a tricky decision that took a little longer.

This won’t do much to change the perception that Premier League officials are worse than in other top leagues, even if UEFA’s own data doesn’t necessarily support this. Taylor is highly regarded on the European stage and Attwell is one of UEFA’s top VAR officials. Michael Oliver is also at Euro 2024 in England.

And while automatic offsides coming to the Premier League next season will inevitably increase the speed of decision-making, subjective calls like the one at Dumfries will still be controversial. While it may not “feel” right, the decision was right.

On top of all this, the Daily Mail reports that another Premier League official, Craig Pawson, has been demoted by UEFA ahead of next season. Previously on the ‘First’ list, Pawson is set to move to the ‘Second’ list, replacing John Brooks, another umpire in the English rankings.

Taylor and Oliver are both on the ‘Elite’ list, which is UEFA’s top ranking. Darren England, Jarred Gillett, Robert Jones and Andy Madley are also on the “Second” list, as it is.

Liverpool.com says: You can see why Van Dijk was frustrated, but the decision was right in law. This is the view that UEFA has adopted and although they would prefer that the appeal be made without such a delay.