The infamous ‘Abu Dhabi 21’ incident saw itself make a comeback recently, but this time, it was on the soccer pitch in a game between Tottenham and Liverpool. Every Liverpool fan, including Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, suffered from the sting of defeat, which was made worse by the “human error” by VAR after disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal.
In the 34th minute of the game, Mo Salah of Liverpool shrugged off the Tottenham defense to slide in a pass in the middle to Diaz, which he tapped home. As Diaz ran off in celebration, the offside flag went up, and the goal did not stand. Upon further check by VAR, it was clear that Diaz was not offside, and the goal should stand. However, controversy erupted when the officials did not allow the goal. After the match, an official statement emerged that the botched call by VAR was a “human error.” Having lost the game 2-1, Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool FC Manager) is calling for a replay of the match but to no avail.
Pierre Gasly relates the injustice with Liverpool to the injustice with Lewis Hamilton
Struggling with the car from the 2022 season, the Abu Dhabi GP of 2021 was the last time Hamilton drove a car capable of leading the rest of the grid. But the last lap of the last race of the season with a dominant car ended in heartbreak for the Briton after the “human error” by the race stewards. Relating the Liverpool incident with the same during an interview with SkySports (uploaded on X by HI Media), Gasly said the call has become a major talking point across all sports.
“[The incident with] Liverpool was a bit of a surprise and definitely a talking point for the weekend, coming here.”
Gasly added the incident was reminiscent of the Abu Dhabi incident and that he had a conversation with his friends about the same. He claims there are some sore memories about the race from two years ago but also said it is natural for even the referees to make a wrong call at times. “I must say it’s tough to swallow when you’re on the wrong side of things.” He ended the statement by saying that even though things like this should never happen, they end up happening somehow.
F1 fans did not forget Michael Masi after the botched call in the English Premier League
As F1 fans came to know about the “human error” comment by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, they quickly brought Michael Masi back from the dead to joke about him being behind the decision. They took to X to bring out their creative sides, uploading various memes and other relevant updates to keep the ball rolling. People jokingly questioned whether Masi had taken up a job in the EPL.
Having played no role in the call, the online abuse would’ve been a sad reminder for Masi of the days from nearly two years ago. The then F1 Race Director had to battle mental health issues for a prolonged period before his partner would leave him. Masi has since worked hard on himself and now serves as the chairman of SuperCars’ Commission in Australia while also serving as a Director for Karting Australia.
