Keith Hackett, the former referees’ head, has called for his successor to step down and five Premier League referees to be suspended while criticising refereeing standards as the “worst we have seen”.
Hackett, who was succeeded at Professional Game Match Officials Limited by Mike Riley in 2010, said the referees Mike Jones, Andre Marriner, Lee Mason and Chris Foy should be stood down at the end of the season and Lee Probert should lose his position should he fail a fitness test.
Hackett also called for wide-ranging action to change PGMOL, with the first thing being to “dispense with the services of the PGMOL general manager”.
He wrote on his blog: “One thing is certain: Professional Game Match Officials Limited cannot continue without a fundamental review of its operations. The PGMOL is failing in its aim to deliver excellence on the field.”
PGMOL has released statistics showing standards have improved in every available measure in the five years since Hackett left the organisation. These include accuracy on major decisions, up to 95% from 94.1%; on decisions in the penalty area being correct 98% of the time; and offsides, 99% correct compared with 92% five years ago when Riley took over. PGMOL’s latest figures also show referees’ fitness has improved, especially in terms of sprints.
But Hackett, who refereed at the European Championship and the Olympics in 1988, and who writes the Observer’s You are the Ref series, said he agrees with Graham Poll’s scathing opinion that performances have reached a new low.
“This season we have all witnessed many disastrous performances and big game-changing errors,” Hackett wrote. “I share the view of one former top referee [Graham Poll] that the current group of professional referees is the worst that we have seen.
“The latest big game decision error was the stupid dismissal of Wayne Routledge of Swansea City [at Queens Park Rangers] who himself was on the receiving end of a reckless challenge. It is unbelievable that a so-called top referee should make such a mistake.
“It is my view that the board of the PGMOL should return to its original constitution with the chief executives of the FA, the Football League and Premier League reviewing the current PGMOL operation.”
Routledge’s red card, which was shown by Anthony Taylor, was later overturned by the Football Association and, while Taylor was not on Hackett’s list of those he believes should be suspended, he was scathing in his assessment of Riley.
“I see standards falling,” he told the BBC. “Over the Christmas period it reached standards that were bordering on appalling.
“If [a manager] is at the bottom of the league then his job is at risk. At this moment in time he [Riley] is more than bottom. I am seeing a regression. The performances of the referees are not acceptable. He must carry the responsibility.”
He added: “Ultimately, at the end of the day, I don’t think they’re bad referees. I just think they need some leadership and guidance and help at this stage to improve performances on the field of play.”
Apart from the referees singled out by Hackett, others have made what appeared to be glaring mistakes this season in the Premier League.
In the same game in which Taylor sent off Routledge, on New Year’s Day, he failed to see Rob Green, the QPR goalkeeper, slide outside his area and handle the ball. Garry Monk, the Swansea manager, said of Taylor’s performance: “I am losing a bit of faith when we have decisions like this.”
In October, Michael Oliver penalised Àngel Rangel, the Swansea defender, and gave a penalty despite what appeared to be a dive by Victor Moses, the Stoke winger. Monk called the decision “disgusting”.
Perhaps most notorious this season was the Chelsea v Hull game last month. Gary Cahill appeared to fall between two Hull defenders in search of a penalty but was not booked. Steve Bruce, the Hull manager, said: “It’s like something out of Swan Lake. That was not a hard decision and you expect the referee to do his job.”
