In a decisive move reflecting accountability at the highest level, referee Chris Kavanagh has been omitted from the Premier League match selection for the upcoming weekend.
The decision by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) comes in the wake of a series of critical errors during Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie between Aston Villa and Newcastle United, a match officiated without the assistance of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.
Kavanagh, who was promoted to UEFA’s elite list of referees as recently as January, along with assistant referee Nick Greenhalgh, will not feature in any top-flight fixtures this round. The duo faced intense scrutiny for their performance at Villa Park, where Newcastle ultimately secured a 3-1 victory.
While the result stood, the match was overshadowed by multiple contentious decisions that have since sparked widespread debate regarding the standards of officiating and the reliance on technological intervention.
The most glaring mistake occurred when Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne handled the ball inside his own penalty area. Despite the infraction taking place two yards inside the box, Kavanagh’s team awarded a free-kick from just outside the area, a decision from which Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali scored the equalizer.
This was compounded by a failure to flag Tammy Abraham offside in the build-up to Villa’s opening goal and a missed red-card offence on Digne for a high challenge on Jacob Murphy.
The absence of VAR, which is not introduced in the FA Cup until the fifth round, left the officials exposed, leading to accusations that modern referees have become overly dependent on technology.
Among the most vocal critics was former England captain Wayne Rooney, who did not hold back in his assessment. “It was one of the worst decisions I have ever seen,” Rooney told the BBC during his punditry duties, specifically referencing the handball incident.
Expanding on his critique during The Wayne Rooney Show podcast, the former striker suggested that the absence of a “safety net” had a psychological impact on the officiating team.
“I think there’s over-reliance on VAR. And unfortunately, now the officials are used to that and where they’ve been getting their help and it’s been getting them out of jail at times or they’re waiting for that to make the decision,” Rooney explained. “With no VAR they have to make the decision and they’re probably used to keeping the flag down and that’s what’s cost the decisions yesterday”.
Newcastle icon Alan Shearer, watching from the stands, was equally scathing regarding the performance of the assistant referees, particularly on the offside call.
“There is perhaps a small excuse for the referee to not see this—and I’m being kind to him,” Shearer began in his post-match analysis. “But there is no excuse whatsoever for the assistant, who is 10 or 15 yards away and has had an absolute nightmare today. He cost for the offside free-kick and he’s 15 yards away from that,” he fumed.
Shearer posited that the incident serves as evidence of the damaging side effects of VAR. “If you ever needed any evidence of the damage VAR has done to the referees, I think today is a great example of that, because these guys, I think, look petrified to make a decision today because they didn’t have a comfort blanket”.
Despite the outcry, not all voices in the game agree that referees are “hiding” behind technology. Former Premier League official Graham Scott, speaking as a guest on Rooney’s podcast, defended his former colleagues.
“Obviously I work with them closely and I know these guys and they’re not like that,” Scott stated. “It’s not how their minds work, not how their processes work. I spent half my career with VAR and half without it… And your processes essentially stay the same”.
The PGMOL maintains a system of accountability through an independent Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel, which assesses performances and informs future selection.
While Kavanagh and Greenhalgh have been sidelined, the third member of their team, Gary Beswick, has been appointed as an assistant referee for Sunday’s high-profile clash between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.