Ex-Uefa official: Fifa chiefs have made critical Harry Maguire blunder as Man United claim issued
Keith Hackett has claimed Fifa made a major error by highlighting Man United captain Harry Maguire during a briefing to referees before the World Cup.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa, Uefa and Premier League referee delivered his verdict after Gareth Southgate admitted he was concerned England could become a target for officials at the tournament.
As quoted by the Guardian last week (22 November), Southgate demanded “clarity” after England were denied a penalty for a challenge on Maguire in their 6-2 win over Iran.
It comes after referees, all the teams and the media were shown a clip of the 29-year-old heading home from a free-kick in a 5-0 win over Albania in qualifying after Kalvin Phillips blocked his marker.
“Southgate’s a very specific guy when it comes to dealing with the media,” Hackett told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“His approach is extremely conservative and he’s measured. I shared his concern.
“The reality is when any sporting body, like Fifa, who have a myriad of film clips available to them and they want to talk about holding and grappling, they should use clips from countries that are not in the World Cup. To use a clip of England highlighting this specific player puts thoughts into the mind of referees.
“The idea is to say to referees ‘We want to look closely at these situations to make accurate decisions’ and there is nothing wrong with that.
“I’m talking from history really. When I was the boss of the PGMOL I put a series of clips on simulation together and said to managers pre-season ‘Look, this is a concern. Ignore the players and clubs but look at the incidents because we, as referees, are going to get this wrong because the players are getting better.’
“The guy who was really unhappy was Sir Alex Ferguson. He was unhappy that I’d shown a Man United player in those clips. I learned from that.
“It’s on that basis that I make the comment that Southgate has made.
“It’s unfortunate and it’s probably not happened to Pierluigi Collina before.
“It was compounded because Harry Maguire was wrestled to the ground in a rugby-style challenge, completely ignored by the referee and it should have been a penalty kick.
“Against that, there was the penalty kick that was awarded against England which was soft. It was the correct decision, but soft.”
In other news, Man United are now confident of signing a £50million-plus summer target in January.