- West Ham expected to contact PGMO after disallowed Callum Wilson goal
- The Hammers lost 1-0 to Arsenal
- West Ham remain in the relegation zone
West Ham United intends to file a claim with the referees’ organisation, Professional Game Match Officials, following the decision to deny Callum Wilson’s goal after David Raya was ruled to have been fouled by Pablo Felipe.
The drama dealt a further blow to the Hammers‘ chances of staying in the Premier League, and the club intends to contact the PGMO to find out why Pablo’s role in the game’s deciding outcome was deemed wrong.
Leandro Trossard put the Gunners in front with less than ten minutes to go, before Wilson came off the bench to strike what he thought was a stoppage-time equaliser. After a long multi-minute wait with consultation with video assistant referee Darren England, referee Chris Kavanagh decided to disallow the goal.
The decision leaves West Ham in the relegation zone, behind 17th Tottenham Hotspur, who can extend their gap to four points if they beat Leeds United on Monday night with two matchweeks remaining.
West Ham expected to contact PGMO after disallowed Callum Wilson goal
Various outlets have reported that West Ham will express concerns and seek further clarification from PGMO following the contentious decision.
Although West Ham acknowledges that their case is unlikely to be successful, they are also expected to request the audio between referee Kavanagh and VAR England. England advised Kavanagh to go to the pitchside monitor and assess the goal’s origins.
It has also been reported that the International Football Association Board, football’s governing body, is likely to examine how to effectively deal with grappling during set plays during its next round of meetings, which begin in the autumn.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel lambasted VAR’s efforts in disallowing the goal.
“What really makes me angry is that Arsenal would never be top of the league if that’s a free kick,” Schmeichel said in his punditry duties with Viaplay.
“That’s how they’ve scored so many goals, by blocking people, holding people, doing all kinds of things.
“And then we get to this point, it takes VAR… five minutes. He starts it over again, and over again — that in itself puts so much doubt into that decision that it cannot be a free-kick.
“I think it’s so wrong. I just don’t understand why all of a sudden that’s a free-kick, because it’s not been for any teams all the way throughout the season… it’s just so wrong on so many levels.”
