Attacks on Michael Oliver and other officials risk “stopping the lifeblood” of new referees coming through, Dermot Gallagher has warned.
Oliver and his family have been subjected to threats and abuse since he sent off Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly at Wolves on Saturday.
The Ref Support UK charity has warned “even worse is just around the corner” and said comments from players and coaches were fuelling online abuse of referees.
Now former referee Gallagher has expressed his fears about what incidents like this will do to the next generation of would-be officials.
“If I was 21 again (and starting out in refereeing) my dad would say, ‘you are not going to do that. If that happens to Michael Oliver, who’s one of the best referees in the world. I am not letting you do that. it won’t happen’,” Gallagher told Sky Sports News.
“What you’re doing, you’re not actually having to go at Michael Oliver, what you’re doing, you’re stopping the lifeblood coming through behind him.”
Oliver’s employer Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) condemned the “abhorrent abuse” directed at him in a social media post on Sunday evening.
“The police are aware, and a number of investigations have commenced. We are supporting Michael, and all those affected, and are determined to tackle this unacceptable behaviour,” a PGMOL spokesperson said.
“Sadly, this is not the first time a match official has been forced to deal with threats in recent times. We will continue to support all investigations.”
Ref Support UK is concerned even worse could follow if players and coaches do not rein in the criticism of officials.
“From top to bottom managers and players think it’s acceptable to encourage this sort of behaviour with their interviews and comments post match,” a post on its official X account said.
“Nothing has been learned from what happened to Anthony Taylor and his family at Budapest Airport and I fear even worse is just around the corner.”
Taylor, another of the top flight’s most highly regarded officials, was hounded by fans on his way back from the 2023 Europa League final in the Hungarian capital after heavy criticism of his performance by then Roma coach Jose Mourinho.
Incredible that the game has come to this. From top to bottom managers and players think it’s acceptable to encourage this sort of behaviour with their interviews and comments post match. Nothing has been learned from what happened to Anthony Taylor and his family at Budapest… https://t.co/LR7N8WpJeu
— Refsupportuk (@refsupportuk) January 26, 2025
Oliver’s call to send off Lewis-Skelly was upheld by VAR, but was questioned by pundits and Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta.
Micah Richards described the decision as the worst he had seen in Premier League history on Monday’s ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.
“I don’t like using the word ‘disgrace’ because I feel like it’s easy to throw that word out, but if you look at the magnitude of that decision, it was so poor and then for them to double down on the decision, I just think it’s shocking,” Richards said.
Co-presenter Gary Lineker described it as “baffling”, adding: “I hope they turn it over for the youngster because he doesn’t deserve a red on his record.”
Alan Shearer added on the same podcast: “There was not one bit of that challenge that meets the criteria for a red card.”
Arteta said he was “fuming” immediately after the match and would not comment on the decision, but wants it overturned in the same way Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was let off following a red card against Tottenham earlier in the season.
“Hopefully we don’t need to (appeal) and if we have to, there is a really good precedent, what happened with Bruno this season as well,” Arteta said.
