# The referee who became a role model after bouncing back from Diaz error

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-referee-who-became-a-role-model-after-bouncing-back-from-diaz-error/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:41:31+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T07:39:24+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Sport (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdj4z0lwjzlo?at_medium=RSS&amp;at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Business, Markets, Sport, UK, World

## Key points

- England has rebuilt his refereeing career after the Diaz VAR error.
- He is now trusted with major Premier League matches.
- He makes his Champions League VAR debut against Stuttgart.

## Summary

Darren England’s career has recovered from the VAR error that wrongly ruled out Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool against Tottenham three years ago. He is now regarded as one of the Premier League’s most trusted officials, showing how referees can return to top-level work after a high-profile mistake.

England said the error, which happened when he mistakenly called “check complete” despite the VAR image showing Diaz was onside, was the lowest point of his career and brought intense scrutiny on him and his family. He later refereed Manchester City’s FA Cup final win over Chelsea and has been promoted to Champions League VAR for Galatasaray v Stuttgart. He described VAR work as mentally exhausting and said a major wrong decision can affect an official long after a match.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.
