The Daily Mail today reported that PGMOL are not responsible for the fact that referees do not use pitchside monitors because that was the decision of Premier League clubs in at least four meetings.

The scoreboard displays the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) decision disallowing Arsenal's third goal by Arsenal's Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in London on October 27, 2019. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)
The scoreboard displays the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) decision disallowing Arsenal’s third goal by Arsenal’s Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in London on October 27, 2019. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / Avar

In what reads like a lovely bit of PR on behalf of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the Daily Mail happily point out that it was clubs who felt ‘so strongly’ about the use of pitchside monitors that PGMOL had no choice but to argue against them and that Mike ‘you won’t get to 50 games’ Riley is being made a scapegoat.

clubs not pgmol at fault
Daily Mail, 29 February 2020

The Daily Mail claim that during four Premier League shareholders meetings last season about the issue, Riley did not even express his opinion which seems rather bizarre, at the very least, given his position and what was actually being discussed.

Referees are expected to use pitchside monitors more for the remainder of the season to help with red cards (except against Arsenal, obviously).