🔗 Share this article

David Moyes has claimed that the Professional Game Match Officials is hesitant to communicate with managers because a high number of refereeing decisions this season have been hard to justify. The Everton manager said he was left speechless when Fulham were awarded what proved to be a decisive penalty against Nottingham Forest on Monday.

Lack of Uniformity in Penalty Calls Highlighted

The Toffees were refused a penalty on Saturday for a comparable incident during their home defeat by Arsenal. The manager initially held his tongue on the decision at the time but, in light of Fulham’s penalty, feels the inconsistency of referees can not be ignored.

“I was half choking last night when I saw the decision given and ours wasn’t,” said the Everton manager. “There is a sense that certain clubs get those decisions and other clubs don’t. It appears we are on the latter side of that.”

Past Incidents and Mounting Discontent

The coach also pointed to an previous case in the season at Brentford involving Virgil van Dijk which was very comparable. “I think eventually it was given. We are disappointed it wasn’t given on the night and we are looking at others which have been missed,” he added.

Lack of Dialogue with Referee Chiefs

Questioned on whether he intended to raise the issue with referee chiefs, Moyes expressed additional concern. “It’s unclear,” he said. “They are not accommodating whatever you want. They don’t want to have a conversation about it really. They will have, but they don’t want to because they’re finding it probably very difficult to explain things.”

This stance from the officials underscores a wider issue of transparency and accountability in the sport’s refereeing, as per the experienced manager.