English Media: Multiple Clubs to Confront Premier League Referee Chief Webb Over Too Many Mistaken Calls This Season

According to The Times, several Premier League clubs, dissatisfied with the refereeing performances this season, are preparing to put pressure on referee chief Howard Webb. They believe that a series of erroneous calls have been made by referees this season.

This Thursday, Howard Webb will attend the first shareholders’ meeting of the top-flight league in London this season, where he needs to report on the work of the refereeing company to the clubs. The organization is responsible for managing and overseeing Premier League referees. At this meeting, Webb will face tough questioning from the clubs regarding refereeing standards and future improvement measures.

Several clubs, including Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City, claim they have suffered from incorrect or inconsistent refereeing decisions during their matches. Notably, both Manchester City and Arsenal pointed out that in their 2-2 draw on Sunday, referee Michael Oliver’s mistakes led both teams to feel they had lost a chance to win. These clubs hope that through this meeting, they can promote the consistency and accuracy of refereeing standards to enhance fairness in matches.

In last Sunday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City, Arsenal player Trossard was shown a red card for what appeared to be an unintentional action, which sparked strong dissatisfaction from head coach Arteta. Trossard, already on a yellow card, kicked the ball away, leading to his direct dismissal with a red card.

Facing these controversies, Howard Webb has apologized for the mistaken calls to the relevant parties, such as the legitimate goal scored by Bournemouth player Dango Ouattara being disallowed due to a suspected handball, but Webb explained that the evidence at the time was “insufficient to overturn the decision.” Additionally, Arsenal also complained to PGMOL about referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision to send off Declan Rice in a similar situation, which left Arteta very angry: “I am shocked because the standards of officiating are so inconsistent.”