The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has withdrawn referee Michael Salisbury from Sunday’s highly anticipated Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal, Afrosport reports.
Salisbury was the video assistant referee (VAR) during Chelsea’s controversial 2–0 win over west London rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The PGMOL has since acknowledged that it was a mistake to disallow Fulham’s opening goal.
Josh King had put the Cottagers ahead in the 22nd minute, but the goal was ruled out after VAR deemed that Rodrigo Muniz committed a foul in the build-up. The Brazilian striker was judged to have executed a “careless challenge” after stepping on Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah’s foot near the halfway line.
Explaining the decision over the stadium tannoy, match referee Robert Jones said: “After review, Fulham Number 9 commits a careless challenge, stands on the foot of the Chelsea defender, therefore we disallow the goal and we restart with a Chelsea free-kick.”
The match was riddled with contentious officiating. Chelsea’s first goal came nine minutes into an added eight minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Their second goal, scored from the penalty spot following a handball by Ryan Sessegnon, also raised eyebrows. Replays suggested there may have been a foul on Alex Iwobi and a handball by Chelsea forward Joao Pedro in the build-up.
Understandably, Fulham manager Marco Silva expressed his frustration with the officiating following the defeat, labelling the decision to disallow his side’s goal as “unbelievable.”
“How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable,” Silva told TNT Sports. “We have meetings with referees and people in charg; we all want to win. VAR is not here to re-referee the game.
“I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don’t want to be fined. But, it has been a difficult start to the season with some decisions.”
Meanwhile, referees’ chief Howard Webb has since spoken with Fulham to admit the VAR call was incorrect. He reportedly told the club that the incident did not meet the threshold for VAR intervention and should have remained the on-field referee’s decision.
In response to the controversy, the PGMOL has replaced Salisbury with John Brooks for Sunday’s marquee fixture at Anfield.
