The Premier League's referee association PGMOL have confirmed that Lee Mason has left his job as a Video Assistant Referee VAR on mutual consent.
A statement from PGMOL reads:
"PGMOL can confirm that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason has departed the organisation by mutual consent," the referee body said in a statement.
"Lee was a Premier League referee for 15 years and oversaw 287 top-flight matches during that time, with his last coming during the closing stages of the 2021/22 season.
"His full career in the professional game saw the 51-year-old officiate in over 500 fixtures after he progressed to the Football League in 1998.
"We would like to thank Lee for his dedicated service to the professional game and wish him all the best for the future."
Mason was culpable for forgetting to draw the offside lines in the game between Arsenal and Brentford leading to a goal by Ivan Toney against the Gunners in the 1-1 draw.
The 51-year-old has officiated Liverpool games on 29 occasions. The Reds lost 9 of those matches and played 7 draws. He issued 36 yellow cards to Liverpool players and three straight red cards.
Some Liverpool fans on Reddit are happy to see his back:
EndOfDays17: "One of the very worst refs in the game. He was so bad that they got him off the job and made him a permanent VAR referee and even there he showed his incompetence.
"If this job had any real accountability, he wouldn't have survived the first year. PGMOL has a serious 'mafia' problem. It's a gentlemen's club."
Soccermodsarecucks: "It's baffling that refs who openly dismissed and fought off actual oversight in VAR for years are given cosy retirement jobs running it."
