Conspiracy!
Didn't the ref award Hull a free kick against Everton yesterday when it was clearly a penalty?
Discuss.
Shall we warm to the task even more.
"The people I blame are the ones that are letting this happen. The media who have not uttered a peep or written a single article about this for 2 decades. The FA who run the game in this country and have allowed this situation to fester. The clubs who see no issue with having David Gill, United’s CEO, on the board of the FA. And of course, the PGMOB: the people who regulate officiating in England
The person at the head of the PGMOB and who is in charge of selecting which referee gets handed which game is Mike Riley, an ex professional referee who is most famous for giving a penalty for a clear dive by Wayne Rooney in the 2004 Man United 2-0 win against
Arsenal which ended the Gunners 49 game unbeaten streak.
Riley was accused of pro United favouritism throughout his career. For younger readers, he’s my generation’s Howard Webb.
According to the Guardian’s research, which goes to back to the beginning of the 1997-98 season until 2004, “Riley refereed 23 United games in all competitions and gave 12 penalties for United in that time, but only three against them. And he has sent off five of United’s opponents.
At Old Trafford, Riley’s record is weighted even more heavily in favour of United: He gave 10 penalties in the 14 games he officiated to the home side, Manchester United.”
Riley’s bias was so suspect than when was awarded the Everton vs Man Utd
FA Cup semi final to officiate in 2009, David Moyes actually called for an investigation on whether Riley was a United supporter.
This is the man who now decides which premier league games to assign to referees".
"Moyes has an uneasy history with Riley after the referee controversially awarded a penalty during Everton's final match of the 2002-03 season, also against Manchester United, which cost the club a place in the Uefa Cup. A spokesman for the FA said the choice of official would stand. "All our referees are fair, unbiased and objective," he said. "Mike Riley is one of our top officials and we are 100% confident he will do a good job on Sunday."
The PGMOB is not regulated but a law unto themselves, and are out to make money. They need their refs and liners get the big games in England, Europe and further afield so as to add more money into their coffers. Any 'bad' publicity will damage their standing within UEFA and FIFA. The weakness of the PGMOB to stand up to the Sky 4 or 5 now, stinks to high heaven and the stench of corruption that surrounds the PGMOB is beyond contempt.
Fortunately for your club, you will always benefit from the big decisions going your way to the detriment of the good of the game in England.