PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has admitted that the decision to disallow Josh King’s goal for Fulham against Chelsea last weekend was a “misjudgement.”
The 18-year-old forward thought he had given Fulham the lead after 22 minutes at Stamford Bridge, only for the strike to be chalked off following a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) intervention.
Officials ruled that Rodrigo Muniz had fouled Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up, with the Brazilian forward appearing to step on the Chelsea defender’s foot near the halfway line.
Fulham manager Marco Silva was furious with the call, branding it “unbelievable” as Chelsea went on to win 2-0. João Pedro’s header and an Enzo Fernández penalty – awarded after another contentious VAR decision – sealed victory for the Blues and left Silva lamenting what he described as officiating mistakes that cost his team.
The fallout from the incident was immediate. Michael Salisbury, the VAR official for the Fulham-Chelsea clash, was stood down from duty for Liverpool’s match against Arsenal the following day.
Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, a programme designed to explain VAR decisions to the public, Webb conceded the officials had erred in their handling of the situation.
“It wasn’t controversial, it was wrong,” Webb said. “We’ve established some principles in terms of how we officiate in the Premier League and how we use VAR. They sit around a high threshold for penalising contact and a high bar for intervention. In this situation, that guidance wasn’t followed properly.”
The PGMOL chief explained that officials became “super focused” on the contact between Muniz and Chalobah without considering the broader context of how the duel unfolded. He stressed that referees are instructed to only overturn goals when the evidence is clear, a principle that was not applied in this case.
The disallowed strike was the second time in as many home games that Chelsea had benefited from a VAR intervention. On the opening weekend of the season, Eberechi Eze’s free-kick for Crystal Palace was ruled out after Marc Guehi was deemed to have interfered with the defensive wall.
The growing controversy has prompted wider concerns about VAR’s impact on the game. Burnley manager Scott Parker recently argued that frequent stoppages and reviews risk turning football into “the most sterile game there is.”
Webb defended the technology, pointing to statistics that show the Premier League has fewer VAR interventions than any other major European league. He insisted that PGMOL remains committed to consistency and improvement.
“We understand the importance of these decisions,” Webb said. “We know that when we get it wrong the impact is significant – and we are always striving to do better.”
While Fulham left Stamford Bridge empty-handed, the debate over VAR’s role in English football is certain to continue, with fans, players, and managers demanding greater clarity and consistency from officials at the highest level.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members
