PGMOL General Manager Mike Riley made personal phone calls to Bill Kenwright and Frank Lampard to apologise
The General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Mike Riley, has personally apologised to Everton after VAR failed to award them a penalty at the weekend.
During the final minutes of Everton’s game against Manchester City on Saturday, City midfielder Rodri clearly struck the ball with his arm during an attempted clearance, however both referee Paul Tierney and VAR official Chris Kavanagh failed to award a spot-kick.
The decision caused outrage among the fans at Goodison Park as the away side held onto a 1-0 win and manager Frank Lampard vented his frustrations during his post-match interview – levelling the blame at Kavanagh.
In his astonishing interview, he accused Kavanagh of not being able to do his job properly and described it as “incompetence at best.”
He said: “We’ve lost a point by a professional who can’t do his job right. It’s incompetence at best. At worst, who knows?
“That’s Chris Kavanagh. It’s completely on Chris. The referee [Paul Tierney] on the day knows it was a penalty. [But] he couldn’t see it.
“The decision is incredible, incredible that loses us the opportunity to get what we deserved. It wouldn’t have needed more than five seconds to know it was a penalty. He should have told the referee to give it or to look at it.”
🗣 “I’ve got a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that’s a penalty.”
Frank Lampard made his thoughts clear on Rodri’s controversial ‘handball’ 🖐 pic.twitter.com/JIZXYFqhcl
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 26, 2022
The Toffees made a formal complaint demanding an apology and on Monday, as per Sky Sports, received an apology after the head of the PGMOL personally phoned Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and Lampard.
Everton have received an apology from PGMOL chief Mike Riley after VAR failed to award the Blues a penalty against Manchester City on the weekend…😬⤵pic.twitter.com/JWrA3mdnTj
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2022
Everton’s defeat to Manchester City means they now sit just one point above the relegation zone in 17th place – and could fall into the bottom three if closest challengers Burnley avoid defeat to Leicester City on Tuesday night.
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