Liverpool have criticised the Professional Game Match Officials Limited and warned they will “explore the range of options available” following the VAR controversy at Tottenham. The PGMOL admitted VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook failed to act after Luis Diaz’s 34th-minute strike at Tottenham was wrongly ruled out for offside. Still images of the incident showed Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside. The disallowed goal came with the match still goalless but after Curtis Jones had been controversially sent off following England’s intervention. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1. The officials were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend but Liverpool will continue to pursue the matter. A statement read: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined. “We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR. “It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention. “That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency. “This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again. “In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.” England was due to be fourth official at Sunday’s Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Cook was to be assistant referee for Monday’s west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea. But the PGMOL announced on Sunday morning that England, the main VAR official at Tottenham, had been replaced by Craig Pawson, while Eddie Smart will step in for Cook, who was the assistant VAR to England. “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively,” a PGMOL statement said. “Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.” Son Heung-min put Spurs in front moments after Diaz’s goal was disallowed, and although Cody Gakpo levelled, Tottenham won 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip, with Liverpool finishing the game with nine men after Diogo Jota also saw red. In a statement on Saturday, PGMOL said: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. “The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. “This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene. “PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ryder Cup day three: Europe’s winners urge Luke Donald to remain as captain Referees have to help themselves – Forest’s Steve Cooper frustrated by decisions The final day in pictures as Europe win the Ryder Cup

Anthony Joshua is currently undergoing preparations for his potential August fight against Dillian Whyte, and has posted a video of himself improvising when it comes to training. The former heavyweight champion could be seen in the clip punching a mattress, as if it were a punching bag. Naturally, Tyson Fury was quick to weigh-in on the situation, commenting 'Proper sausage' alongside laughing emojis under the post. The last time AJ took on Whyte in 2015, he walked away victorious with a knockout. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The noise from the crowd at Chile's first ever Rugby World Cup match was so loud that the players could not hear each other, scrum-half...

The Witcher Season 3 promises plenty more monsters and magic where the first two seasons

The West is seriously underestimating the risk of nuclear war, a top Vladimir Putin aide has warned. Dmitry Medvedev, who is Russia’s security council deputy chairman, alleged the West was “not fully realising” the threat of nuclear war. Russia has repeatedly accused the West of waging a proxy war with it over Ukraine. “There are irreversible laws of war. If it comes to nuclear weapons, there will have to be a pre-emptive strike,” said Mr Medvedev. Allowing Ukraine nuclear weapons – a step no Western country has publicly proposed – would mean “a missile with a nuclear charge coming to them”, he was quoted as saying. “The Anglo-Saxons do not fully realise this and believe that it will not come to this. It will under certain conditions,” he said. He also said the Ukraine invasion could go on for decades and accused Volodymyr Zelensky of being impossible to negotiate with and called him a “clown”. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president said at least one person was killed and 15 were injured in a Russian missile strike on a clinic in Dnipro on Friday. Read More Russia has started deploying tactical nuclear warheads to Belarus, says Lukashenko As the Ukraine war spills into Russia, a dangerous new front is about to explode The Russians out for revenge on Putin Roger Waters ‘dresses as SS officer’ and projects Anne Frank’s name onto stage during gigs in Germany

Max Verstappen vowed to kiss and make up with his race engineer following their X-rated row in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying. Verstappen finished fastest in a wet-dry session at Spa-Francorchamps, but he will start Sunday’s 44-lap race from sixth following a gearbox penalty. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is promoted to pole position, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez second. Lewis Hamilton, on pole a week ago in Hungary, will line up in third. Verstappen made it into Q3 – the final phase of qualifying – by the skin of his teeth and vented his anger at long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, known as GP, following the close-call. “I should have just f****** pushed two laps in a row like I said,” said Verstappen, who sneaked through in 10th place. “But you are through, Max,” replied Lambiase. “I don’t give a f*** that we are P10, mate. It is just s*** execution,” came Verstappen’s fiery response. Lambiase snapped back: “OK, and then when the track was two seconds quicker for your final lap and you didn’t have any energy left, how would that have gone down?” A surly Lambiase added: “But you tell me what you want to do in Q3 and we’ll do it. Tyre sets, fuel, run plan.” After returning to finish eighth tenths clear of Leclerc, Verstappen issued an apology. “Sorry to GP for being such on the rant,” he said over the radio. Lambiase replied: “Slowly getting used to it, Max.” Speaking afterwards, Verstappen added: “It happens sometimes. Most of it is blocked off. “We are mates. We can get quite emotional, quite vocal. We sort it out afterwards.” Verstappen’s grid drop for exceeding the allocated number of four gearboxes will provide his rivals with forlorn hope they can end his seven-race winning streak. However, the Dutchman, a winner of nine of the 11 rounds so far this season, started this race from 14th last year owing to engine penalties and still took the victory in his all-conquering Red Bull machine. For Hamilton, the seven-time world champion faced a post-qualifying investigation from the stewards after he ran off the circuit at Eau Rouge before re-joining in front of team-mate George Russell in Q2. Russell was forced to slow down to avoid making contact with the sister Mercedes. Race control noted the incident and confirmed they would investigate. Hamilton finished nine tenths slower than Verstappen, with Russell even further back in eighth, 0.8sec adrift of his team-mate. “It was definitely very hectic because it was consistently drying up,” said Hamilton after the running started on a wet track. “It was difficult to see with the spray. I was head down, just maximining as much as I could. “At the end, I was still a good chunk off Max. But I am really happy with the result I’ve got.” Carlos Sainz qualified fifth for Ferrari, one spot ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Lando Norris seventh in the other McLaren. Daniel Ricciardo finished a commendable 13th on his F1 comeback but the Australian will line up from the penultimate spot on the grid. Ricciardo temporarily hauled his AlphaTauri through to Q2 only to see his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. “F***, I am sorry,” said Ricciardo when informed of the chalked-off lap. “I just lost it through Turn 3. I am sorry.” Spa-Francorchamps is hosting the sport’s third sprint event of the year with a shortened race on Saturday to come before Sunday’s main event – the concluding round ahead of the sport’s summer shutdown. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen fastest for Belgian GP despite X-rated row with race engineer How Max Verstappen and record-breaking Red Bull compare to Formula One greats I held my breath – Lewis Hamilton enjoys ‘extraordinary’ run to pole in Budapest

Japan has produced another commanding performance at the women’s basketball Asia Cup with a heavy 88-52 defeat of New Zealand in the semifinals

The rage was palpable outside the Quito funeral parlor where Fernando Villavicencio’s lifeless body lay. Inside, even close

Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway has become the first skier to be disqualified for a forbidden type of wax on her skis

The president's statements sparked a backlash on social media, with some questioning the definition of 'winning' in the face of ongoing challenges

An injury-time blast has given the United States a 1-0 win against Ecuador in one of the opening matches of the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina

Singapore has executed a third prisoner in two weeks for drug trafficking, despite calls for the city-state to halt capital punishment for drug-related crimes