A number of officiating calls over the weekend, most notably the denial of a penalty to West Ham against Chelsea, infuriated Keith Hackett.
The former chairman of the PGMOB and FIFA referee lashed out on X (September 22) at the “rock bottom” standard of Premier League officiating, citing a number of situations that disturbed him.
Wesley Fofana pulled Crysencio Summerville back in the box during the 3-0 loss at the London Stadium, but Hackett was not happy about that. He was also upset that Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United was not sent off for a two-footed challenge, and there was chaos between Brighton and Nottingham Forest. “The Premier League’s decision-making is at an all-time low,” he wrote. WHU was denied a penalty kick despite obvious holding. No red card for a two-footed challenge! The referee then signals ball played in the Brighton game. When the fourth official intervenes, there are three reds. “Where are we heading?”
Crysencio Summerville claim waved off in West Ham loss
The pull back was the sort of decision that gets penalised every week even if it might not be enough contact to make a player go down.
What fans and pundits always call for in debates about officiating is consistency, but maybe that’s impossible when certain elements of officiating are inherently judgement-based and are influenced by other factors.
Even so, most people know a regularly-given foul when they see one and Fofana pulling back Summerville, and holding on as he entered the area, was certainly that.
Supporters of the Irons may counter that Maxwel Cornet had a perfectly decent goal disallowed at Stamford Bridge earlier in the same season, while Chelsea supporters may claim that West Ham avoided giving up a penalty for a handball by Tomas Soucek in this match two seasons ago.
So there is a regular supply of baffling decisions that appear to be outliers from what has become the norm, and officials’ reputations are currently not great.
That might be because choices are scrutinized more closely than in the past, but the fact that people like Hackett are still incensed implies otherwise. If the kick had been awarded, Julen Lopetegui’s team may have been able to regain control of the match and relieve some of the pressure on the underperforming new leader. He needs some luck to go his way, and against Enzo Maresca’s team it didn’t. The Irons are down in 14th place with only one win from five, and there are indications he is already losing the fans [Tom Rennie, September 21].
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