Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Michail Antonio has shared what he was saying to the referee after his penalty claim against Crystal Palace.
The striker was initially awarded a penalty against the Eagles, but VAR ultimately decided that the incident wasn’t worthy of a spot kick.
However, despite the video assistant’s view, the West Ham striker tried his absolute best to convince the referee that the foul should’ve been given.
Indeed, Antonio says that he was telling the referee that there was contact and that a penalty should’ve been given, but unfortunately, his pleas were all for nothing.
Antonio’s refereeing plea
The Jamaica international shared what he was saying to the referee.
“So I went to the referee and we were surrounding the referee. I said to him ‘there’s contact and if there’s contact there’s a pen at the end of the day.’ And all of that, I was trying to feed it into his ears, but it didn’t work,” Antonio said.
Won’t work these days
As much as harrying the referee could work back in the day, nowadays, it’s not a valid tactic.
Unfortunately for players like Antonio, these big decisions are often made miles away at Stockley Park, and no matter how strong of a case you put to the referee, the video footage doesn’t lie.
Antonio knows that his penalty shouldn’t have been given, he even described it as ‘soft’ on this very podcast, and now, with the advent of VAR, these tactics of trying to convince the referee on the pitch just aren’t going to work.
West Ham were, rightly, denied a penalty and it cost them the chance to get a result against Crystal Palace.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
