Howard Webb has admitted that Myles Lewis-Skelly should not have been sent off against Wolves, but the PGMOL chief insists the decision was not a “horrendous” error.
The Arsenal teenager saw red in the 43rd minute of last month’s Premier League clash at Molineux after Michael Oliver adjudged his challenge on Matt Doherty to be “serious foul play.” The decision was upheld by VAR, despite widespread outcry, before being unanimously overturned on appeal by an independent commission.
Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, Webb attempted to justify why VAR did not intervene at the time. “We would prefer a yellow card in this situation,” he said. “The referee sees a raised foot make high contact and the opponent went down. The referee felt it was serious foul play, the VAR checked the footage to see if the call was clearly and obviously wrong, and he felt it wasn’t.
“But for serious foul play, we need excessive force or brutality. What we see here is high contact glancing and coming off the leg quite quickly. It’s an understandable on-field decision.”
Arsenal immediately appealed the red card, and the FA‘s independent regulatory commission ruled in their favour, allowing Lewis-Skelly to avoid a three-match suspension.
The decision, which was reached swiftly, further cast doubt on the credibility of PGMOL‘s officiating process, particularly given that VAR failed to intervene on the day.
At his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Girona, Riccardo Calafiori reflected on the ruling: “We knew it was a mistake. We were upset, but in the end, we won the game. As I say, we are happier.”
Mikel Arteta echoed his sentiment: “We’re very happy that decision has been made and Myles is going to be able to play for us again in the next three games.”
The controversy only adds to the ongoing scrutiny over refereeing standards in the Premier League, particularly when major decisions such as this are overturned with minimal deliberation after the fact.