Ex-Premier League referee: Michail Antonio in VAR blunder as controversial West Ham footage emerges

Ex-Premier League referee: Michail Antonio in VAR blunder as controversial West Ham footage emerges

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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Michail Antonio should have been shown a yellow card for "simulation" as West Ham lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace on Sunday (6 November), according to Keith Hackett.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee claimed Antonio should have been punished when West Ham's penalty was overturned by VAR.

As shown on the BBC's Match of the Day 2 programme, Anthony Taylor initially pointed to the spot after Marc Guehi's challenge on the 32-year-old.

However, the decision was reversed when he reviewed the footage on the pitchside monitor but Antonio was not cautioned.

"Antonio went down and the referee awarded a penalty kick but Michael Salisbury intervened," Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.

"When you look at this from an angle, this is an act of simulation and Antonio should have received a caution. If you are going to fall, you fall forward.

"I was surprised Tierney awarded a penalty kick but he rectified his error thanks to VAR, Michael Salisbury, one of the younger ones on the list, coming in and saying 'It's not a penalty kick'.

"This is another incident where Antonio has got away without a yellow card. He should have been cautioned for simulation.

"He's overturned his decision, determined it's not a penalty kick because the player has dived and there's no offence so issue a yellow card for simulation."

West Ham

Antonio has lost his place in the West Ham side this season due to the arrival of Gianluca Scamacca.

The Jamaica international has started just six of West Ham's 14 Premier League games this term, scoring two goals.

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