Ex-Premier League referee: Tottenham victims of major injustice as Harry Kane footage re-analysed

Ex-Premier League referee: Tottenham victims of major injustice as Harry Kane footage re-analysed

Keith Hackett

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). FOCUS Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

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Keith Hackett has insisted Tottenham were denied a "nailed-on penalty kick" with Bournemouth defender Jack Stephens guilty of starting a "wrestling match" with Harry Kane during the 3-2 loss on Saturday (15 April).

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee insisted VAR official Tony Harrington should have intervened.

As seen on BBC's Match of the Day (06:54, 15 April), Stephens and Kane were involved in a tangle as Ivan Perisic drilled a dangerous cross into the Bournemouth box.

Andy Madley ignored Kane's claims for a penalty and his original decision was upheld after a brief VAR review of the incident.

Tottenham were losing 2-1 at the time of the clash and equalised late on through Arnaut Danjuma - only for Bournemouth to retake the lead through Dango Ouattara in the final seconds.

Cristian Stellini's side are three points adrift of fourth-place Newcastle having played a game more than the Magpies.

Hackett told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “I just think it’s a nailed-on penalty kick.

“Referees have got to get this right, they’ve got to be able to spot this.

“Andy Madley has had a good season, but on this one, he has fallen for the three-card trick.

Tottenham

“The initial move from the Bournemouth defender is to grab Kane around the waist, and therefore it’s a penalty. Stephens is the one to start the wrestling match as the ball comes in.

“VAR has got to come in and help the referee if he hasn’t seen it.”

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