West Ham intend to complain to the referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials, over the decision to disallow Callum Wilson’s goal after David Raya was deemed to have been fouled by Pablo. The drama dealt another blow to their hopes of staying in the Premier League and the club plan to contact PGMO for clarity over why Pablo was penalised.
Although West Ham accept their complaint is unlikely to get them anywhere, they are expected to ask for the audio between the referee, Chris Kavanagh, and the video assistant referee, Darren England. Kavanagh was advised by England to go the pitchside monitor to review the incident.
West Ham, who would have drawn level on points with 17th-placed Tottenham if the goal had stood and the match ended 1-1, were left fuming over what they regard as a lack of consistency in the penalising of challenges at set pieces. Many former referees have said Kavanagh and England got the call spot-on.
Football’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board, is expected to discuss how best to deal with grappling at set plays as part of its next round of discussions starting in the autumn.
Arsenal’s manager, Mikel Arteta, said the decision on Sunday could determine “the history of two massive clubs that are fighting with their lives to achieve their objectives” and described the officials as “very brave”.
