August 15, (THEWILL) – The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the major step of dropping referee Simon Hooper, VAR Michael Salisbury, and assistant VAR Richard West from this weekend’s English Premier League fixtures after they failed to award Wolverhampton Wanderers a clear penalty in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester United.
As THEWILL reported, the controversial incident happened late in the game on Monday night, with the score at 0-0, when Wolves striker, Sasa Kalajdzic, clashed in the box with United keeper, Andre Onana. However, Hooper waved away furious appeals from the Wolves players and Salisbury did not intervene to recommend an on-field review.
Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, was incensed by the mistake after the game, claiming PGMOL Chief, Jon Moss, had told him it was a “blatant penalty”. Moss and PGMOL head, Howard Webb, also issued a rare apology to the club, admitting they should have been awarded a spot-kick.
The decision to drop the match and VAR officials came as a major blow to Salisbury in particular, as it was the second time this year he has been stood down for a high-profile error after a controversial call in April’s game between Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur.
The episode shows that despite PGMOL and Webb’s stated desire to drive up standards this season, glaring refereeing errors are still slipping through the cracks and affecting match outcomes. Dropping the officials involved indicates greater accountability is needed when they do to maintain confidence in the system.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
