The PGMOL stand by Michael Oliver’s decision to send off Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly in Saturday’s 1-0 win against Wolves. Arsenal’s hopes of successfully appealing the controversial red card appear over after the refereeing body came out publicly to defend Oliver’s performance at Molineux.
The Gunners were left seething when Lewis-Skelly was instantly dismissed after stopping a Wolves counter-attack by chopping down Matt Doherty on the edge of the hosts’ box.
Following a review by VAR Darren England, the 18-year-old defender was adjudged to have committed serious foul play, leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with 10 men at the end of the first half.
Arsenal ultimately didn’t pay the price after Riccardo Calafiori’s 74th-minute strike clinched a crucial three points and stay in touch with Premier League leaders Liverpool.
However, Lewis-Skelly has established himself as an important player this season and is now set to serve a three-match suspension.
He will be absent in Premier League clashes against Manchester City and Leicester City and the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Newcastle United, which Arsenal enter 2-0 down on aggregate.
And Arteta’s furious post-match comments headlined a wave of criticism towards the PGMOL and Oliver, who the body consider the country’s leading official.
PGMOL, though, have stood by Oliver, announcing that they agree that the challenge was really late and the point of contact was high.
They have also doubled down on their support of the 39-year-old referee, who has been the subject of mass abuse on social media since the incident.
The body have also defended England’s role as the VAR in confidence that he saw nothing on the replays to suggest Oliver was incorrect.
PGMOL go as far as to share that they feel aggrieved by the reaction to Lewis-Skelly’s red card, especially from former players, after it was mooted as many by one of the Premier League’s worst-ever decisions.
Alan Shearer joined the horde of retired stars to blast Oliver’s decision on BBC Match of the Day on Saturday night.
“Never ever a red card. What worries me is that you’ve got an assistant VAR and a VAR who have seen several replays in slow motion, and they think that that is a clear red card,” Shearer bemoaned.
“[They think it’s] serious foul play, and they don’t think of the idea of saying to the referee, ‘I think you’ve made a really big error there, you need to go to the screen’.
“That would be a worrying thing for me because it’s a terrible decision.”
Arteta called on Lewis-Skelly’s three-match ban to be overturned, citing Bruno Fernandes’ wrongful dismissal against Tottenham earlier in the season as the precedent.
