Lee Mason becomes VAR referee casualty as veteran whistler loses job after Arsenal blunder

Mason was operating the VAR in Arsenal‘s 1-1 draw with their London rivals and advised on-field whistler Peter Bankes to allow Ivan Toney’s late equaliser to stand. That’s despite Christian Norgaard taking up an offside position in the build-up and it later emerged that Mason had “forgot” to draw the relevant offside lines.

That sparked fury from the Premier League who hit out at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) for “falling below expectations” with the latest VAR controversy. And now PGMOL have released a statement confirming Mason’s departure by mutual consent after more than 15 years as a Premier League official. A statement reads: “PGMOL can confirm that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason has left the organisation by mutual consent. We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the professional game and wish him all the best for the future!”

Mason had spent 15 years as an on-pitch official before transitioning into his new role as a full time VAR last summer. A Premier League statement on his error during the clash at the Emirates read: “The Premier League sets high standards and is disappointed that PGMOL fell below those expectations last weekend.