Everton manager Frank Lampard and club chairman Bill Kenwright have been contacted by PGMOL referee chief Mike Riley on the back of a controversial call that denied the Toffees a late penalty in their last Premier League outing against Manchester City.
The Toffees were denied a late spot-kick in a meeting with Manchester City, with an explanation demanded from those in charge of match officials.
The Merseyside outfit were left incensed when handball shouts against Blues midfielder Rodri were waved away by Paul Tierney, with VAR checks siding with the on-field team of match officials.
First-team coach Ashley Cole was shown a post-match yellow card as a result of his complaints, Lampard blasted the apparent incompetence of those charged with the task of making big calls and chief executive Denise Barret-Baxendale wrote to top-flight chief football officer Tony Scholes demanding an explanation.
What has happened?
Riley has now contacted Lampard and Kenwright in a bid to explain how and why certain decisions were reached towards the end of a dramatic encounter at Goodison Park on February 26.
The Toffees are understood to “appreciate the acknowledgement” but remain less than satisfied at the outcome of an unfortunate sequence of events that cost them a priceless point in an ongoing bid to avoid relegation out of the Premier League.
There is a feeling on the blue half of Merseyside that they have been on the wrong end of too many questionable calls this season, with the incident in a 1-0 reversal against City being far from the first to incur their wrath.
During a 2-0 loss away at Southampton on February 19, Everton were denied another penalty following an apparent handball inside the box by Saints midfielder Oriol Romeu – with VAR also turning a blind eye to those shouts.
The Toffees also took issue with the decision to overturn the awarding of a spot-kick during a meeting with Tottenham in November, with Richarlison ready to tap into an empty net before the whistle blew and backtracking began.
What has been said?
Frank Lampard:
“I’ve got a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that’s a penalty… It’s incompetence at best, if it’s not that, then someone needs to explain to me what it is.”
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Following the incident against City, which came as Everton were pushing for a late leveller against the Premier League leaders, Lampard told reporters when asked for his opinion on the performance of Tierney and Co: “The decision is incredible, incredible, and that loses us the opportunity to get what we deserved.
“We’ve lost a point because of a professional who cannot do his job right. You start searching for whys and I can’t think why. It is so incompetent to get it wrong.
“Pep [Guardiola] will know, Everton fans will know, Man City fans will know, it was the clearest penalty you could give: arm is out – great, below the sleeve – great, I was waiting for the penalty.
“Incompetence at best, at worst who knows? I’ll wait for the statement or apology they do when things are wrong but it will mean nothing.”
Have PGMOL apologised before?
As Lampard takes little comfort from Riley contacting him to apologise for a mistake made by elite-level officials, it is not the first time that PGMOL have been forced to take such action.
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who enjoyed considerable success alongside Lampard at Stamford Bridge, was left fuming at Riley’s decision to offer apologies to West Brom in the wake of a controversial penalty award back in November 2013.
The Portuguese said at the time: “I’m very curious to know the consequences of it.
“At least now the referees know, they know one thing. If in a controversial – I’m not saying a mistake – decision that hypothetically – and, I repeat, hypothetically – favours Chelsea, they know they are going to be publicly exposed by their boss. That they know.
“They can make, hypothetically, mistakes, favouring other teams, nothing happens.
“I’m very curious to know if it was just an isolated phone call. I’m curious to know if people see that as a normal situation.
“I’m interested to know if this is the start, that from now on it’s going to be the same for everybody.”
Quizzed on whether he had ever received a phone call from officials apologising for their actions, Mourinho added: “If they do that, during my career, my telephone would be very, very busy.”