'I remember working in Russia on Thursday': Ex-referee gives reason behind VAR disaster in Spurs game
It turned out that Darren England and Dan Cook, who were on VAR duty in the Tottenham v Liverpool game and put in a disastrous refereeing performance, travelled to UAE mid-week.
England was a VAR official in the Sharjah v Al-Ain game and Cook was an assistant referee.
Former Premier League Marc Clattenburg believes that long travel had a negative effect on the quality of their refereeing.
He told the Daily Mail: "It has been speculated that England and Cook’s trip to the UAE on Thursday impacted their performance and I can tell you, those long international trips take it out of you.
"I remember doing a Europa League game in Krasnodar, Russia, on a Thursday. I returned to referee a Premier League match at the weekend and by full time, I couldn’t remember what had happened over the last 90 minutes, I was that tired.
"I know other officials who have felt the same. The PGMOL need to be mindful of that when sanctioning these trips."