Exclusive: Major PGMOL review called for after Lewis-Skelly incident and others
Keith Hackett says a “root and branch review” is necessary from PGMOL after poor refereeing decisions in Arsenal’s and Bournemouth’s matches among others.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that week-on-week, teams and fans were forced to witness “avoidable errors” from Premier League referees.
Illia Zabarnyi was sent off against Wolves, with Matheus Cunha scoring the only goal of the game soon after.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was also sent off against Wolves on 25 January, but the left-back’s red was overturned on appeal.
Lewis-Skelly saw red against West Ham, although that time referee Craig Pawson was slammed for a “massive error” by Hackett as VAR had to come to the rescue.
Ex-PGMOL chief gives verdict after Bournemouth and Arsenal decisions
Following the introduction of VAR, there was an expectation the technology would help root out the issues of refereeing mistakes, allowing fans to focus on the football.
Instead, referees are dominating headlines more than ever, with each week having a new talking point, and fans even taking the time to draw up crude tables outlining where their team would be, if not for VAR mistakes.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Hackett delivered a damning indictment of PGMOL, and its failings, saying: “It is time for the board members of the PGMOL to carry out a root and brand review of it’s organisation, to stop the decline of refereeing standards in the Select Group One Referees.
“Each week we are witnessing avoidable errors. Poor interpretation of the law, defended by your organisation.
“It was your organisation that stated that the offence by the Arsenal player [Myles Lewis-Skelly vs Wolves] was serious foul play – it was not and the player had his red card overturned.
| Match | Incident | VAR incorrect interventions according to Premier League |
| Bournemouth 1-1, Newcastle 25 August | Dango Outtara scores late winner for Bournemouth. | VAR Tim Robinson advised referee to disallow the goal for handball. |
| West Ham 2-1 Man United, 27 October | Danny Ings goes down in the box, referee waves play-on. | VAR advises Michael Oliver to review the foul, awarding a penalty. |
| Brentford 0-0 Everton, 23 November | Christian Norgaard catches Jordan Pickford while challenging for a loose ball. | No action on-field, until VAR advises Chris Kavanagh to review, leading to a red card. |
| Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton, 19 January | Nikole Milenkovic scores a header to put Forest 4-1 up. | VAR advises Anthony Taylor to disallow the goal as Chris Wood was offside, with the Kiwi striker not touching the ball. |
“Ask yourself why Bournemouth’s manager is questioning the intervention of VAR that saw a reckless challenge in law [Illia Zabarnyi vs Wolves] suddenly be wrongly upgraded to red. It was not serious foul play
“Why was referee Andy Madley, after making a correct penalty decision [Ashley Young vs Man United] sent to the monitor, and overturned his decision because VAR failed to show the picture from behind the goal, that showed the clear offence.”
VAR mires Premier League with weekly controversies
Whether or not the technology of VAR can be beneficial for football has become a secondary issue, as its implementation continues to fail.
The Premier League have stated that there have been (as of 4 February) 13 VAR mistakes, with four incorrect interventions of correct on-field calls, as shown above.
Four incorrect interventions has now become five, after Ashley Young was correctly awarded a penalty against Man United, only for the decision to be disallowed, with VAR failing to show all the correct camera angles to referee Andy Madley.
That number is down from 20 at the same point last season, indicating VAR use has improved, Premier League fans are likely to disagree with that sentiment.