Former referee Keith Hackett has claimed that phone calls were made instructing pundits to quieten down in their criticism of officials, following Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle United.

Over the weekend, Arsenal were the victim of a couple of poor refereeing decisions.

Bruno Guimaraes got away with hitting Jorginho in the head without so much as a yellow card, before Newcastle’s goal was allowed to stand despite a clear foul on Gabriel Magalhaes in the build-up.

Yet much of the post-match analysis has focused on Mikel Arteta’s response to the poor decisions, rather than on the decisions themselves.

Indeed, Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have been particularly outspoken in backing the referees against Arteta’s complaints.

Though former referee Keith Hackett didn’t name Neville or Carragher specifically, he claims to have been made aware of phone calls to instruct people to play down criticism of match officials.

“I was aware of the two people receiving a phone call and instructed to [toe] the line and to quieten down in the criticism of match officials,” Hackett claimed.

“Anyone involved in football saw the push (on Gabriel) and at that point, the goal should have been ruled out.”

Football insider Team News and Ticks made a similar claim, suggesting that Howard Webb has given Sky Sports more access to referees in return for Neville and Carragher giving them an easy ride.

These are unverified claims at the moment, but many Arsenal fans probably feel they would help explain the media analysis of a couple of poor decisions at the weekend.