Arsenal remain unhappy with the penalty awarded against them in their match against Sunderland at the weekend and have contacted referee chief Howard Webb for an explanation, as reported by Football London.
Ezri Konsa was penalised as he and Daniel Ballard battled and held each other in the box, an incident that happens regularly and is often overlooked by officials.
However, on this occasion, a spot kick was awarded against the Gunners, and they were understandably unhappy with a decision that has once again highlighted the inconsistency of officiating.
Arsenal have been on the favourable side of questionable decisions, but more often they have found themselves on the wrong side of such calls and have voiced their displeasure when incidents have gone against them.
Arsenal Want Clarity
The Gunners understand there will be more controversial incidents during the season, but they want the authorities to know that they are unhappy with what happened against Sunderland.
The report says Arsenal have been in contact with the FA to discuss the decision, with the club seeking an explanation for why the penalty was awarded.
Their concern is not simply about the individual decision, but also about consistency. Similar incidents occur regularly in football, and Arsenal will want to understand why this particular challenge resulted in a penalty.
Gunners Hope to Avoid Repeat
Arsenal want explanations and hope to avoid similar situations recurring in the future, as this is not the first time they have been involved in a controversial decision during a match.
The Gunners know that officials will make difficult calls throughout the campaign, but they believe greater consistency is important. With the season still in its early stages, Arsenal will want the authorities to ensure that similar incidents are judged fairly.
The club’s decision to seek clarification shows how seriously they view the matter. While the penalty cannot be changed, Arsenal can use the discussions with the authorities to understand the decision and ensure their concerns are heard.
With plenty of football still to be played this term, the Gunners will hope the officiating improves and that controversial decisions do not continue to affect their matches.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through this link…
If not for Raya save… Its a wrong officiating decision…
Arsenal would be wasting their time contacting the FA for an explanation; it’s outside their remit. They are, in fact, contacting Pro Ref. who will fanny them off with some smart arsed BS.
Well done MA for not accepting mediocrity and pursuing answers.
After watching city130 get yet another VAR decision go their way, we need to ask questions and not accept unexplained decisions as the norm.
Unless everyone connected with the game understands the rules, only the chosen few from Pro Ref association will know what’s going on and that is when corruption of the rule book occurs.
👍ken1945
Ken
I feel that enough is enough, time to have real consequences or get rid of VAR. A child that knows the rules knows that Fernandez was interfering with the play and influencing by going for the ball, not to mention the contact with Martinez.
Huge problem with the arrogance and ego of refs thinking they need to “interpret” the rules, instead of just applying the rules as is their job.
VAR was an absolute disgrace; as bad as the call against Konza, it was absolutely shocking what happened to Utd. Yet again an apology, but no real consequences. VAR official should be suspended at the least.
How other sports apply review properly, yet the PL continues to get it wrong, blunder after blunder, costing clubs points yet the same officials return is disappointing.
Hopefully at some point enough managers and clubs will have had enough of the incompetence and defense of poor officials that something is done, changed, or removed from the game.
Durand, I couldn’t agree with you more my friend.
VAR has been used in numerous other sports with only teething problems involved.
The fact that we are still seeing ridiculous decisions being made that the “average” fan could point out as being wrong is so frustrating and it’s against every team in the PL of course!!
Your second paragraph echos my thoughts exactly and why some fans cannot understand my use of the word corrupt(ion)ing the very basic rules of the game with the backing of the Pro Ref association when it’s there for all to see weekend after weekend is beyond me.
The PL could be won and clubs relegated by the number of apologetic letters sent out by Mr Webb.
Imagine city130 winning the PL by one point while manure are relegated by the same one point difference – the outcry would be off the scales.
Incorrect decisions should be called out. I doubt that anyone disagrees with this. In some cases the errors certainly appear to be due to significant errors in judgement and possibly incompetence.
It is important to note that many decisions are subjective so some interpretation is inevitable even though there are guidelines.
Using words like “corrupt” impugns the integrity of the referees who are doing a difficult job. Referees are fallible, it does not mean they are corrupt.
I am sure you know very well that getting rid of VAR would be a bad idea as it will simply lead to more errors. Yet you have failed to be clear on this point in this thread.
I have backed the use of VAR from its conception, but failed to understand why Mike Riley, head of the PGMOL at the time, decided to introduce it into the PL differently to the rest of Europe who, of course, had been using it very successfully in previous seasons.
The cat has come home to roost with so called professional referees making errors game after game week after week season after season by complicating simple decisions governed by the rule book – thus corrupting the very rule book that governs the game!!
I hope that answers where I stand regarding VAR and why I use the words I do.
Tell me David what word(s) would you use to describe the never ending mistakes being made and what’s it’s doing to the game?!
David,
You make a fair point, and refs have a tough job making decisions at game speed.
However, VAR officals have slow motion, multiple views, close-ups, everything technology allows.
How the idiots in the VAR both did not think fernandez was interfering is beyond everyone. The only thing more appalling than the decision was the disgusting defense of those idiots.
Why haven’t the issues been fixed? Why does Webb continue to defend these clowns instead of firing them?
I’m still waiting for accountability and change; We all agree refs are not perfect, yet Webb and others treat them like they are.
I have another question for Webb. Why did we have the recognition of the Haaland goal error virtually right away and yet not a peep about any of the other just as clear errors made on the weekend? Was Pro Ref simply afraid the outrage over the Manchester derby call would attract too much outside attention if not quelled right away? Is that the proper way to proceed if you truly are most interested in accountability or should you treat every review of VAR and officiating the same for the good of the game rather than quickly saving your own neck?
Bruised Banana, probably because there was “no harm done,” with Raya saving the penalty kick, and we won the match anyway. We still might yet hear more on this if the VAR review panel look at it.
It was the same in the last few minutes against Villa, when Bruno was clattered. We won the game, but it was close, and the VAR review panel have said we should have got the penalty.
My point being that in the United/City game, the incident was very match-altering, whereas in ours it wasn’t, as we won the game(s).
I see your point Jax, but that shouldn’t matter in terms of oversight and how it is conducted. The point that Raya and Bruno bailed out the wrong call should not be relevant. Also, I believe Derek may have been correct with respect to the foul on Bukayo being initiated outside the area, making our penalty an incorrect call as well (the 2nd yellow being correct), but there wasn’t any mention or focus on that possibility on the video feed I was watching.
Bruised Banana. I remember the commentators questioning the Saka penalty, for that reason, and decided it was OK, but thought it was very close. For myself, and I’m not too good at these, I thought we were lucky on that.
Gunsmoke recently suggested that AI will referee games soon. He may have something there.🤔
Jax, Webb would probably be put in charge of programming the AI and we’d be back where we started, lol.
Jax,
I thought AI already was. 😂
👍BB
For me, the VERY obvious was completely missed in both situations. It really didn’t need to be drawn out as the decisions should have been made much sooner. The fact that both decisions are the focus of both games tell us there is something fundamentally wrong with VAR. Or, that there is (dare I say it), match rigging? I’m sure I’m not the only one that has some serious doubts over the officiating. Let’s face, why haven’t City been taken to the cleaners yet over FFP breaches? 🤔 It’s all a bit suspicious to me..
Ken
I feel that enough is enough, time to have real consequences or get rid of VAR. A child that knows the rules knows that Fernandez was interfering with the play and influencing by going for the ball, not to mention the contact with Martinez.
Huge problem with the arrogance and ego of refs thinking they need to “interpret” the rules, instead of just applying the rules as is their job.
VAR was an absolute disgrace; as bad as the call against Konza, it was absolutely shocking what happened to Utd. Yet again an apology, but no real consequences. VAR official should be suspended at the least.
How other sports apply review properly, yet the PL continues to get it wrong, blunder after blunder, costing clubs points yet the same officials return is disappointing.
Hopefully at some point enough managers and clubs will have had enough of the incompetence and defense of poor officials that something is done, changed, or removed from the game.
Can I just point my fellow poster’s to an article on the BBC Website. It’s that clown Howard Webb trying to justify his employee’s latest gaff.
Just a little spoiler for you, apparently Foden deserved his red card for violent conduct. But apparently, Fernandez was seen as petulant.
The rest of the article doesn’t paint him in better light either.
But if you want to confirm to yourself if you have any lingering doubts about this man, this article should sum him and his employee’s up perfectly.
Derek and Durand the absolute covering up of sheer incompetence is mind boggling!!
Ken1945,
Mind boggled. 👍
Howard Webb even admits himself that the underlying problem is that the refs in the Prem are just not fully up to the job of reffing the modern game, with its pace, complexity and “dark arts”.
We need a proper overhaul of refs, not more protections for the incompetent. Find capable refs wherever they are, rather than elevating mediocre candidates just because they’re there. Consider good foreign refs, women’s league refs, or just generally anyone that has the demonstrated ability to handle this level of complexity. Merit over mates.
You fail to mention Atwell’s role in all this! He stated that KONSA was not looking at the ball! What utter rubbish! Yet he was not interested neither did he bother reviewing the incident with Calafiori who was blatantly fouled in the box with the defender definately not looking at the ball! INCOMPETENCE OR CORRUPTION (based on Atwell’s previous decision making against us)
Ref Brooks tried to establish a bad precedent. His mistake should be a one off. If Arsenal don’t protest week in week out we see what we saw with Chelsea last season i.e. Arsenal players red carded, pens given against, goals scored disallowed.
Appreciate the club’s move!
Regarding all this furor over the City goal that shouldn’t have been allowed.
I read a post from a fan on the BBC Website in the comment’s section, and they made a good point.
They said all the years that United have had a high level of decisions go their way, and now their acting like the world and his dog are against them.
They then went on to point out that a couple of weeks ago, Maguire scored a hand ball goal against Ipswich, which hasn’t caused half the furor that United are now suffering.
I just thought they made a good point. That said, the City goal being allowed is a real shocker though.
I think the name change to “Pro Ref” says enough really. Nice try of covering up and trying to change the narrative by changing the name, “Pro Ref” sounds very responsible, professional, and elite; everything the refs are not.
Anyone still defending them, remember what Dean has said in the podcast; if you still defend them after hearing his comments, then you are part of the problem as well.
How former refs cringe and get upset that anyone dare call out ref errors is offensive to me. We all clearly see a wrong call is made, it is offensive hearing them try to defend the incompetence, it is shocking. More Pundits should call out the former refs when they start this nonsense.
Nothing will change until the league, clubs, and PL actually ADMIT there is a problem, and ask for help to fix it. Start by firing Webb, the lead clown in this whole circus.