One of the Premier League’s biggest controversies was sparked by an accusation made by Nottingham Forest, who were fighting to avoid relegation last season.
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After losing a key game against Everton in April, Forest issued a statement saying that the VAR referee, Stuart Attwell, was a supporter of Luton Town, one of the teams also fighting to stay up but which was eventually relegated.
For this reason, the Premier League’s College of Referees (PGMOL) took a radical decision: He demanded that the judges reveal which team they support, in order to avoid any discrepancies.
Howard Webb, PGMOL director, assured that the referees will have to declare “any specific interest” for this season and if anything were to change during it.
“We will look at it and make adjustments if we think there may be a conflict of interest if you declare yourself a fan of a particular team. If you have played for a club, that too,” he added.
“We’re trying to get more players to become referees so that’s something we need to work on. And if you have personal connections with people working at clubs, that’s something we need to work on as well. We’ll make an assessment of that and take that into account when appointing referees,” Webb said.
How does the issue work in Colombia?
It is worth remembering that in Colombian football, for many years, the decision was made that referees who belong to the college of the city or department of either of the two clubs cannot officiate that match.
The exception is when two teams from the same city face each other, in which case the appointment of referees from that college has been permitted. Recently, Wílmar Roldán has officiated matches between the teams from Antioquia and Andrés Rojas, Bogotá classics, among others.
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