David Moyes Claims Refereeing Officials Unwilling to Explain Debatable Calls
David Moyes has claimed that the Professional Game Match Officials is reluctant to engage with managers because a high number of refereeing decisions this season have been hard to justify. Moyes said he “half choked” when Fulham were awarded what proved to be a decisive penalty against Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Lack of Uniformity in Spot-Kick Decisions Highlighted
The Toffees were refused a penalty on Saturday for a similar offence during their home defeat by Arsenal. Moyes did not criticise the decision at the time but, in light of Fulham’s penalty, feels the inconsistency of referees must be addressed.
“It took my breath away last night when I saw the decision given and ours wasn’t,” said the Everton manager. “It feels as though certain clubs get those decisions and other clubs don’t. We seem to be on the latter side of that.”
Previous Cases and Mounting Discontent
The coach also pointed to an earlier incident in the season at Brentford involving Virgil van Dijk which was very comparable. “It was later it was given. It is frustrating it wasn’t given on the night and we are reviewing other instances which have been overlooked,” he added.
Lack of Dialogue with Referee Chiefs
Questioned on whether he intended to present his case with referee chiefs, Moyes expressed further frustration. “I don’t really know,” he said. “They don’t make it easy whatever you want. They don’t want to have a conversation about it really. They might engage, but they don’t want to because they’re finding it probably very difficult to explain things.”
This position from the PGMO underscores a wider issue of openness and answerability in the sport’s refereeing, according to the long-serving coach.
