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"Last season, the Premier League referees repeatedly made mistaken judgments, severely damaging the credibility of the referee team. With the restructuring of the Premier League referee team this new season, a series of reforms have been introduced, including the controversial extended stoppage time and a completely new card penalty rule. However, just two rounds into the new season, the performance of the referees hasn't improved; in fact, controversies have increased.
First, there was the match between Manchester United and Wolverhampton. The main point of contention in this game arose when Manchester United's goalkeeper, De Gea, fouled Wolverhampton's forward, Jimenez, towards the end of the match. However, the referee did not award a penalty, which led to Wolverhampton losing out on a potential point. After the game, Wolverhampton's coach expressed anger, insisting that it was a penalty, and even claimed to have received an apology from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). At the same time, Manchester United's manager, Solskjaer, and De Gea both believed it wasn't a penalty.
In the second round a week later, it was Manchester United's turn to be the victim. During their match against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United's forward, Martial, had a shot blocked by Tottenham's defender, Romero. The ball hit Romero's arm, which should have resulted in a penalty according to the rules. However, after reviewing the incident with VAR, the referee concluded it was not a penalty. This decision infuriated the Manchester United players, and Solskjaer received a yellow card for expressing his dissatisfaction with the referee. After the match, Manchester United's captain openly mentioned that the referee company apologized last week, and he wanted to see if they would apologize again this week.
Apart from these incidents, Arsenal's Jien Yang received a red card for a second yellow, and Liverpool's midfielder, McAllister, was given a straight red card and a three-match suspension for an incident during a 50-50 challenge. Each of these decisions had their own controversies, and even McAllister's suspension was successfully overturned on appeal by Liverpool. It's hard not to question whether the restructured referee team is actually an improvement over the previous one.
The controversies surrounding the Premier League referee team are expected to persist throughout the entire season. Hopefully, under the scrutiny of many, the refereeing standards will become more consistent." |
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