VAR Official Reassigned After Controversial Chelsea vs. Fulham Decision

The Premier League has made a late change to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for Sunday's crucial fixture between Liverpool and Arsenal. Michael Salisbury, who was originally scheduled to officiate as VAR, has been removed from the role following an acknowledged error during Chelsea's victory over Fulham the previous day.

The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) confirmed that Salisbury made a mistake while on VAR duty for the Chelsea vs. Fulham match. Salisbury, serving as the video-assisted official, advised the on-field referee, Rob Jones, to disallow a goal scored by Fulham's Josh King. The decision was made after reviewing footage of the build-up, which Salisbury believed showed a "careless challenge" by Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz on Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah.

Despite replays, the PGMOL has since deemed Salisbury's advice to overrule the goal as not meeting the high threshold required for VAR interventions this season. It is understood that PGMOL chief Howard Webb has contacted Fulham regarding the controversial decision, which had visibly angered Fulham manager Marco Silva.

As a consequence of this admitted error, Salisbury has been replaced by John Brooks for the high-profile Liverpool vs. Arsenal clash. Brooks previously served as VAR for a match on Monday evening where he correctly advised an upgrade of a yellow card to a red for Anthony Gordon's challenge on Virgil van Dijk. This marks Brooks's first time as VAR for an Arsenal game since their Carabao Cup semi-final exit in February.