Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Michail Antonio has been discussing West Ham’s game against Nottingham Forest last weekend and some controversial refereeing decisions.
The Hammers had a goal chalked off against Forest as Antonio was deemed to have fouled a Forest player in the build-up, but, as ever, West Ham fans and players weren’t happy with the VAR decision.
Antonio himself had a little chat with the referee after the incident, and rather than giving him an explanation, Robert Jones just told him to move on and forget about it.
What’s been said?
Antonio shared what happened on the podcast alongside former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg,
“He’s blocked me off, two minutes later we got a throw in and I pass it forward and he does it again. He blocked me off again and they’ve not given a foul. The referee says to me ‘move on, it’s gone now. Move on, it’s gone.’” Antonio said.
“Oh really? I’m not having that,” Mark Clattenburg responded.
Poor communication
There is such an issue in terms of communication between Premier League referees and players, and Jones hasn’t helped at all here.
The ref could’ve easily have explained to Antonio what had happened and why he had made the decision, but instead, the official gave a blunt response and told him to move on.
In other sports, even fans get detailed reasoning behind controversial refereeing decisions, but in the Premier League, the players aren’t even allowed to know why certain calls are made.
Officiating in the Premier League has been the centre of controversy this week, and it’s not hard to see why.
Communication is the key to solving any problem, and Jones just brushing Antonio’s complaints off doesn’t help anything at all.
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