Lee Mason leaves PGMOL by mutual consent after Arsenal Brentford howler

Lee Mason has left the PGMOL and will longer be a VAR official in the Premier League.

Mason was on VAR duty during Arsenal’s clash against Brentford last weekend and came under huge criticism for his performance.

The 51-year-old failed to rule out Brentford’s 74th-minute equaliser despite Christian Norgaard being in a clear offside position when he crossed for Ivan Toney to score.

It was later revealed that Mason in fact forgot to draw the offside line.

Arsenal were left seething by the mistake as it cost them two vital points in the race for the Premier League title.

Mason’s mishap also forced the PGMOL’s chief, Howard Webb, to apologise to Arsenal.

Now, the PGMOL have announced Mason's departure, which was by mutual consent.

Prior to becoming a VAR official, Mason was an on-field referee for 15 years and was in charge of 287 matches in England’s top flight.

PGMOL Statement: Lee Mason pic.twitter.com/u06YKeDx5S

— PGMOL (@FA_PGMOL) February 17, 2023

This week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reluctantly accepted the apology from the PGMOL but was very critical of Mason.

Arteta said: “I will only be satisfied if they give the two points back.

“I appreciate the sincere, genuine apologies, but it doesn't take away the fact we have two points fewer. Everyone makes mistakes but that was something else. I wasn't having it, the club wasn't having it.

“There was huge anger and disappointment because that wasn’t human error, that was a big misunderstanding of your job. That is not acceptable, I’m sorry. It cost Arsenal two points, we’ll have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.”

Dermot Gallagher discusses Ivan Toney's goal against Arsenal after a controversial VAR decision 🤔 pic.twitter.com/xRjatCsqO8

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 13, 2023

It has been an awful week for the Premier League officials, on the same weekend as the Arsenal-Brentford incident, fellow VAR official John Brooks also made a howler.

Brooks was overseeing Brighton and Hove Albion’s clash against Crystal Palace and wrongly disallowed Seagulls’ opening goal scored by Pervis Estupinan, the offside line was placed on the wrong Palace defender.

In a bid to improve the standards, Webb hosted a video workshop to ensure that mistakes are not going to occur again.