Referees’ allegiances are not going to be made public this season, despite comments from Howard Webb which appeared to suggest they would be.
The subject of which clubs officials support was thrust into the spotlight last season when Nottingham Forest criticised the decision to appoint Stuart Attwell – a Luton fan – as the VAR for their match against Everton in April where they felt Attwell denied three clear penalty claims.
Webb, the chief refereeing officer for Professional Game Match Officials Limited, said at a media briefing on Thursday that there were no plans to extend allegiances rules after Forest insisted his organisation PGMOL should take “contextual rivalries” into account when making match appointments.
Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.
We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.
NFFC will now consider its options.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 21, 2024
However, Webb appeared to indicate referees’ allegiances would be made public for the first time when he said: “Officials are asked to declare any specific interests in advance of the season, and as the season goes on should any of those things change. That will be made public, I believe, so you can see what that looks like as well and what those declarations of interests are.”
However, PGMOL sources later said Webb’s remarks had been misinterpreted and clarified that the intention instead was to publish the allegiances criteria.
These were duly published on Thursday afternoon, and confirmed that referees are not appointed to games involving clubs they support or played for, or where they have a material connection such as family links or a personal or business relationship. Decisions on material connections are taken at PGMOL’s discretion.
They are also excluded from refereeing matches in the town or city where they reside, apart from referees living in London.
Forest were charged by the FA for their comments about Attwell in May. The investigation into Forest is ongoing, but the club’s manager Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams were sanctioned by an independent commission on Thursday over their comments related to that match.
Nuno was given a suspended one-match touchline ban, fined £40,000 and warned as to his future conduct while Williams was also warned and fined £24,000.
On the day Forest were charged, their referee analyst Mark Clattenburg left the club having been given a formal FA warning over his own comments in relation to Attwell.
Concerns had been raised about Clattenburg’s ability, as a former referee, to hold such a role where he was able to contact Webb prior to matches about refereeing matters if he wished.
Webb could not comment on the Clattenburg case specifically with the FA’s case against Forest still pending, but said he would still always welcome clubs contacting him and was committed to being “open and transparent” with them.
Webb also admitted VARs had become “too forensic” and said they should only recommend overturning subjective on-field decisions in the season ahead where errors “jump off the screen”.
The league will operate the ‘referees’ call’ principle this season, where VARs will be asked to stick with on-field decisions unless they think a clear and obvious error has been made.
“What we can do is is really focus on what VAR was always meant for,” Webb said.
“It was meant for those clear situations that would live large in the memory. It wasn’t meant to re-referee the game on small touches and little contacts and all those things that have created debate and discussion – leave those on the field.
“Don’t micro-analyse things, situations, don’t be too forensic. Let things jump off the screen when you look at it and say ‘thank goodness we’ve got VAR, we can rectify that immediately, put it right, and then get on with the game’.”
One area where Webb feels referees and VARs have perhaps been too forensic is on handball calls, and hopes to see a “less is more” approach in 2024-25.
“Based on the guidance that we’ve given – and that’s based on the consultation we’ve had – that you’ll see less of what people deem as harsh handball penalties going forward,” Webb said.
Webb said there was strong support for the principle that penalties should not be given where a player plays the ball onto their own arm and where that touch creates a clear change of trajectory.
The example he gave was a penalty awarded against Wolves’ Joao Gomes against Luton last season, when the ball deflected up off his leg onto his outstretched arm.
He said that a survey of players and managers last spring, where they were asked to give their view on a range of incidents, found that in excess of 90 per cent felt no penalty should have been given in that instance.
