Michael Oliver will be back on VAR duty for Arsenal this weekend, with his appointment for the visit of Hull City certain to attract attention after his previous controversies involving the Gunners.
Michael Oliver will be on VAR duty when Arsenal face Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday, an appointment unlikely to go down well among Arsenal supporters.
Farai Hallam has been appointed as the referee, with Adrian Holmes and Simon Long as his assistants. Simon Hooper will be the fourth official, while James Mainwaring will assist Oliver on VAR.
Hallam is a former Stevenage academy defender whose career eventually took him into refereeing after his playing ambitions went in the wrong direction.
He was released by Stevenage at 18 and has spoken about the value of his playing experience when it comes to understanding footballers and interpreting incidents on the pitch.
Hallam made his Premier League refereeing debut in January 2026 and immediately found himself involved in a significant VAR decision.
Manchester City appealed for a penalty for a possible handball involving Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera.
On VAR, Darren England recommended an on-field review, but Hallam stuck with his original decision after deciding Mosquera’s arm was in a natural position and refused to give a penalty to City.
That made him the first Premier League referee that season to visit the monitor and stand-by his original no-penalty decision.
For Arsenal supporters, however, it is Oliver’s presence in the VAR room that is likely to attract more attention.
His decision to send off Myles Lewis-Skelly at Wolves in January 2025 remains one of his most controversial calls involving Arsenal, but certainly not the only one.
Oliver showed Lewis-Skelly a straight red card for a challenge on Matt Doherty, judging it to be serious foul play. England, who was also on VAR that day, supported the decision.
Arsenal appealed and an independent regulatory commission subsequently overturned the dismissal in record time, removing Lewis-Skelly’s three-match suspension.
Refereeing chief Howard Webb later acknowledged that the sending-off had been wrong.
Oliver has also been at the centre of other decisions which have frustrated Arsenal supporters, so his appointment for Saturday will inevitably be noticed.
Then, of course, there are the matches he took charge of in the Middle East…
Michael Oliver’s previous with Arsenal
- Gabriel Martinelli, February 2022: Received two yellow cards in the same passage of play against Wolves.
- Mateo Kovacic, October 2023: Avoided dismissal against Arsenal after horrendous challenges on Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice when he was already on a booking. After the game, Howard Webb said he should have been sent off.
- Leandro Trossard, September 2024: Received a second yellow against Manchester City for kicking the ball away despite Oliver being excused by Webb when he failed to send Kovacic off as he did not want to have a ‘negative effect’ the game.
- Myles Lewis-Skelly, January 2025: Sent off against Wolves for serious foul play; Arsenal successfully appealed and the red card was overturned in record time.
- Arsenal’s protests at Wolves: On the basis of the referee’s report, the club were fined for their players’ reaction to Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal despite the decision subsequently being overturned. The fine was three times the normal amount.
- Myles Lewis-Skelly, September 2024: Booked while an unused substitute against Manchester City after passing a message to David Raya.
More details on all these incidents, and more, can be found here.
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