Leicester City manager Steve Cooper has claimed a “terrible human error” by VAR was “covered up” after his side drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace last weekend.
Leicester were leading 2-0 when Palace striker… Jean-Philippe Mateta He saw his goal ruled out for offside by the assistant's flag two minutes into the second half.
However, the goal came shortly after the VAR review and the striker found himself level with the last defender. Leicester drew 2-2 after Mateta scored again, this time from the penalty spot in added time.
Cooper questioned the decision in his post-match press conference, demanding answers from the Premier League. He has now doubled down on his criticism after a meeting was held.
Freeze frames shared on X after the game, which used a different frame, claimed to show evidence that Mateta was offside, and it appears to be these social media images that Leicester have used as proof of a mistake.
When Leicester met with the Premier League and PGMOL on Monday, the club were told that no human error had been made, that the correct framework had been used and that VAR protocol for the offside process had been correctly followed. But Cooper is adamant that Mateta's opener should have been ruled out and that VAR made a mistake in intervening.
“We're now past it, it was a terrible human error that we think has been covered up a bit,” Cooper told a news conference. “We've seen different images that clearly show he was offside but unfortunately they were frozen at the wrong time and he was deemed to be in an onside position. All that's been seen has been a false image.”
“On Monday we showed the Premier League with clear images that play was stopped at the wrong time.
“Decisions go against you, whether during the match or with the VAR, and we have made a huge mistake. We don't want it to go unnoticed because I don't think it's the best thing for the players or the fans.”
“Mistakes like that shouldn't happen and that's why we're moving to the semi-automatic system. We're very disappointed about that. We needed to stand up for the club and tell the Premier League what we thought.”
Leicester did not present any evidence to prove the error during Thursday's press conference.
The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology after the international break in October or November, removing the manual process of VAR in offside decisions.
