My referees are better than ever
REF CHIEF RILEY BURIES HEAD IN SAND
REFEREEING chiefs have hit back at criticism sparked by Sportsmail columnist Graham Poll by publishing statistics that claim standards have never been higher.
Despite a number of horrendous mistakes which blighted Barclays Premier League matches over the Christmas period, Professional Game Match Officials Ltd tried to make a case that 95 per cent of major decisions are correct.
Last week Poll highlighted several game-changing gaffes and called for referees’ chief Mike Riley to be sacked. Poll was supported by former PGMOL head Keith Hackett, who branded the current officials the ‘worst we have ever seen’ and named four top-flight referees he thought should be axed.
On a day when Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was charged by the FA for comments made after Cesc Fabregas was wrongly shown a yellow card for diving against Southampton, the PGMOL tried to hide their officials’ poor performances behind statistics.
And in a bid to undermine their critics, PGMOL argued standards had improved since Hackett left five years ago.
As well as showing referees’ fitness has got better, the figures claimed accuracy on major decisions was up to 95 per cent from 94.1 per cent, penalty-box calls were 98 per cent right and offsides had increased in accuracy to 99 per cent compared to 92 per cent when Riley took charge in 2010. Premier Leagueg managers,g , players and fans will find it hard to believe these figures.
Mike Jones awarding Liverpool their first penalty in the 2-2 draw at Anfield, when Raheem Sterling’s cross struck Wes Morgan in the face, left Leicester manager nigel Pearson dumbfounded and calling for the use of video replays.
Also on new Year’s Day, Swansea boss Garry Monk said officials should suffer for bad performances following the 1-1 draw at QPR. Rangers keeper Rob Green somehow escaped dismissal despite clearly handling the ball outside his area, while Wayne Routledge was sent off for his reaction to Karl Henry’s late tackle. Taylor was the official once more and Swansea’s Routledge had his red card rescinded. Gabriel Agbonlahor and Paul Konchesky had red card decisions overturned in December, after confusing calls by Lee Mason and Craig Pawson respectively.
In light of this, Poll said standards had ‘sunk to their worst level that I can remember’ and Hackett cited ‘over 20 major errors’ during the Christmas period. He called for Jones, Mason, Andre Marriner, and Chris Foy to be stood down.
Poll added last night: ‘These stats will provide little succour for the millions who have watched games scarred by poor decisions. It’s typical of Mike Riley, an accountant by profession, to hide behind statistics. People would think more of him if he came out from behind his statistical smokescreen and faced his critics. I believe these stats to be flawed as they don’t record non-decisions. For example, Rob Green’s handball won’t be included as the referee played on instead of giving a free-kick.’