PROFESSIONAL GAME MATCH Officials Limited (PGMOL) has rejected claims by former Premier League official Mark Halsey that he was asked to alter the way he reported incidents of misconduct during games.
Halsey’s remarks came on the back of the three-match suspension handed to Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero for elbowing West Ham defender Winston Reid.
Aguero was punished retrospectively, with referee Andre Marriner not mentioning the incident in his match report, after City’s appeal proved unsuccessful.
Any incident seen by a match official and not acted upon during the game cannot then be punished by the Football Association (FA).
And while discussing the situation on Twitter, Halsey – who retired in 2013 – claimed that he had been asked in the past to say he had not seen some incidents, even if that was not the case.
@mackemcafu2 @richardajkeys Paul I have been in that situation when I have seen an incident and been told to say I haven’t seen it
— Mark Halsey (@RefereeHalsey) September 2, 2016
@lee_greenhalgh1 @FA to be Fair to the FA Lee it’s not them, it comes from with in the PGMOL
— Mark Halsey (@RefereeHalsey) September 3, 2016
Those comments prompted concern from the likes of former Manchester United captain Gary Neville, with PGMOL subsequently issuing a statement denying Halsey’s claims.
“Match officials submit their reports, including critical incidents, directly to the FA,” the statement read.
“Match officials ensure that their reports are a full and accurate description of the incident There is no pressure from the PGMOL to include or omit anything.”
