Howard Webb is reportedly set to have awkward talks with representatives of Premier League clubs who want to raise questions about refereeing standards this season.
The director of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) saw how Arsenal and Manchester City, among others, expressed their complaints about decisions in a professional manner.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was recently furious when Leandro Trossard was rightly sent off for unnecessarily kicking the ball away after already being booked for Sunday’s thrilling match against title rivals City.
Several clubs will now intensify their scrutiny of Webb and the controversial decisions made under his leadership this season at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting on Thursday, it was reported The Time.
In addition to Arsenal and City, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Leicester are also said to be unhappy with certain decisions made by referees and VAR since the start of the season.
Howard Webb is set to have an uncomfortable conversation with representatives of the Premier League club, according to reports
Arsenal were furious after Leandro Trossard was shown a red card against Manchester City last weekend
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta (far left) has voiced several complaints about the quality of refereeing in the Premier League
Webb has already been forced to apologise for the poor decisions he made when Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara had a goal disallowed for handball, but he said the evidence was ‘not compelling enough to intervene’ in the match.
The former Champions League and World Cup final referee also saw Arsenal complain to the PGMOL after referee Chris Kavanagh sent off Declan Rice for kicking the ball away in a similar incident to Trossard.
Arteta was furious at the time: ‘I was surprised. Surprised, surprised, surprised at how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half there are two incidents and nothing happens.
‘Then, in a non-critical spot, the ball hits Declan (on the back of his leg), he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball.’
Webb has previously had to apologize and explain several refereeing decisions
Manchester City players also challenge decisions made in their clash with Arsenal
Webb previously admitted that Dango Ouattara’s (No. 11) goal against Newcastle should not have been disallowed for handball
Meanwhile, a disappointed Bukayo Saka also called for “consistency” in decision-making over off-field standards.
Premier League clubs are seeking justification for their decision to stick with VAR after a majority voted to retain the video replay system for another season.
Wolves called the vote at the time after feeling outraged by several incidents that had occurred against them during the Premier League campaign, but which were not supported by the majority of clubs.
It is hoped that the imminent introduction of semi-automated offside technology will put an end to the subjective decisions made in important matches.