West Ham demand answers from referee chiefs over controversial disallowed goal in Arsenal loss | OneFootball

West Ham United are formally contacting the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to express significant concerns regarding their controversial disallowed goal during Sunday’s match against Arsenal.

The decision, which saw a potential equaliser ruled out, could prove critical for the Hammers in their bid for Premier League survival.

The incident occurred when officials, following a VAR review, determined that Gunners goalkeeper David Raya had been fouled by Pablo Felipe at a corner, just moments before Callum Wilson smashed the ball into the net. Referee Chris Kavanagh subsequently overturned his initial decision, denying West Ham a crucial goal.

The club is understood to be seeking further explanations from PGMO, with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and forward Jarrod Bowen both publicly questioning the consistency of officiating around challenges at corners in the Premier League this season.

PGMO’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, is expected to address the contentious incident during Tuesday night’s edition of “Match Officials Mic’d Up”, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports and TNT Sports at 7pm.

Beyond the immediate fallout, football’s lawmakers are set to examine how best to manage grappling within the penalty area during set-pieces.

open image in gallery

West Ham remain in the relegation zone after Sunday’s loss (PA Wire)

The issue of holding and wrestling at corners has been a recurring feature of the Premier League season, and Sunday’s events have brought it sharply back into focus, particularly given the physical contact evident as Raya challenged for the ball.

It is understood that the International Football Association Board (Ifab), the body responsible for setting the game’s laws, is likely to discuss this topic during its next round of meetings, scheduled to commence in the autumn.

Ian Maxwell, Ifab director and chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, previously addressed the issue at Ifab’s annual general meeting in February.

Maxwell stated: "It wasn’t discussed specifically at today’s meeting. Anything we can do to try to eradicate that type of behaviour… We’re aware of it from a Scottish perspective, I’m not sure it’s necessarily getting worse. There will be geographical changes – football is played all over the world – different countries, different players will deal with things in slightly different ways.

“It’s within the protocol for match officials to take decisions on that (whether a foul has been committed) if they feel it is appropriate at the time, so they have got that opportunity."

In contrast to West Ham’s frustration, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta praised the officials – referee Kavanagh and VAR Darren England – for their handling of the situation.

open image in gallery

Mikel Arteta praised the officials for disallowing the goal (AP)

"It was a call from the ref that is very brave, but very consistent with what they’ve been talking about all season," Arteta said. "When I have to be critical, I have been. And today I have to praise them, at least for giving the option to a referee to decide, away from the lights and the chaos, to give clarity to him to make the right call. And when you look at the action in that way, it is an obvious error."

However, Nuno and Bowen strongly disagreed with this assessment.

The Portuguese coach remarked: "You look at every corner in the Premier League and something like this is happening, not just today, but on all the pitches. I am talking about the lack of consistency. The players are confused and frustrated and they don’t understand it. It is upsetting. It is up to them to solve it, there is a referee and VAR, but the referees confuse themselves."

Bowen echoed his manager’s sentiments, adding: "There’s lots of holding and grappling that goes on in the box. Are you going to look at those every time and give a penalty? Because that’s the only way that is the right way to do it."