The PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer Howard Webb does not agree with Micheal Oliver’s decision to award West Ham United a penalty during Erik ten Hag’s final game in charge of Manchester United on October 27, Afrosport reports.
The decision was awarded by Oliver who was on VAR duty after a challenge by Man United defender Matthijs de Ligt on West Ham striker Danny Ings.
However, David Coote had overlooked the incident and urged play to continue but changed his mind after VAR intervention.
Jarrod Bowen made no mistake in slotting in the penalty past Andre Onana with Ten Hag dismissed a day later.
Apparently, this decision created a lot of controversy as fans and pundits had comments to make about it either in support or in disapproval.
A statement from Webb to Sky Sports reads: “I thought it was a misread by the VAR, A VAR that’s normally really talented and reliable, but gets uber-focused in this situation on De Ligt’s leg. His leg coming through on to Danny Ings, not making any contact with the ball. The ball’s already past De Ligt as he as he makes contact with Danny Ings.
“And the VAR sees that as a clear foul. I think he was too focused on that aspect. I don’t think he should have got involved.
“I think this is a situation where we’d leave the on-field decision as it is, probably whichever way it’s called. On balance, I don’t think it’s a penalty kick.”
As stated earlier, Coote did not find the challenge convincing enough until he got contacted by the Oliver who was heading VAR.
“On-field referees are not required to follow the recommendations of the VAR official. They are told that they are absolutely within their rights to keep their decision when they go to the screen,” Webb explained.
Coote was recently suspended after released footage on social media showed whats seemed to be a ‘slanderous’ statement about Liverpool and their previous manager Jurgen Klopp.
“We became aware of a video that was being circulated on social media that we are taking very seriously,” Webb added.
“We’ve instigated a full investigation. One of our referees, David Coote, has been suspended with immediate effect pending the outcome of that investigation.
“There’s not much more I can say at this stage until we’ve worked through that investigation.”
Webb was a professional referee between 1993 and 2014 and has been PGMOL refereeing officer since 2022.
