Leicester's Cooper claims 'proof' of VAR error

Leicester City boss Steve Cooper has claimed an “awful human error” by the VAR was “hidden” following his side’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace last weekend.

Leicester were 2-0 up when Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta saw his goal disallowed for offside by the assistant’s flag two minutes into the second half.

However, the goal was awarded soon after following a VAR review with the striker deemed to be level with the last defender. Leicester went on to draw the game 2-2 after Mateta scored again, this time from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Cooper questioned the decision in his news conference after the game, demanding answers from the Premier League. Now he has doubled down on his criticism after a meeting was held.

Freeze-frame images shared on X after the game, which used a different frame, claimed to show proof that Mateta was offside, and it appears to be these social media pictures which Leicester have used as proof of a mistake.

When Leicester met with the Premier League and PGMOL on Monday, it was explained to the club that no human error had been made, the correct frame was used and VAR protocol was followed correctly for the offside process. But Cooper is adamant that Mateta’s first goal should have been disallowed, and the VAR made an error in intervening.

“We’re over it now, it was an awful human error that we believe has been hidden a little bit,” Cooper told a news conference. “We have seen different images that show he clearly was offside, but unfortunately they froze it at the wrong time and he was deemed to be onside. Everything that has been seen has been a false image.

“On Monday we showed the Premier League with clear footage that actually the game was stopped at the wrong time.

“Decisions go against you whether it’s in-game or VAR and we’ve had a massive error go against us. We don’t want it to go under the radar because I don’t think that’s right for the players or for the supporters.

“Errors like that shouldn’t happen and it’s why we’re changing to the semi-automated system. We felt very let down by it. We needed to stand up for the club and tell the Premier League what we thought.”

Leicester did not present any evidence which showed the error during Thursday’s news conference.

The Premier League is to introduce semiautomated offside technology after the international break in October or November, which will remove the manual VAR process from offside decisions.