Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Callum Wilson has been discussing some of the controversial refereeing decisions in the game against Manchester United on Sunday.
There were more than a couple of dodgy decisions at Old Trafford this weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo’s first disallowed goal sparked all sorts of controversy, while Wilson himself had a penalty shout turned down.
Wilson had his fair share of complaints about the refereeing on the podcast, and he said that even one Manchester United player questioned the referee on the pitch, asking what had happened to the standard of officiating in England.
Refereeing complaints
Wilson says that one of Man United’s players asked him about the ref at the weekend.
“One of the United players said to me ‘what’s happened to the standard of referees in this country?’. I was thinking ‘wow, that’s from a foreign player saying that and they’ve not experienced that before.
“I got wiped out and the defenders from their team are saying that should have been a penalty. I don’t even appeal now because I’m that fed up of going mad at referees.
“If it’s going to be a penalty and the ref has missed it you’re thinking VAR is going to do its job, so I’m waiting for the ball to go out of play.
“Then I say to him ‘ref, what you saying’. He was like ‘it’s never a penalty’. And I was thinking why am I wasting my time here?”
Gone downhill?
It’s hard to quantify, but there is a general consensus that the standard of refereeing in the Premier League has declined in recent years.
To be honest, we have to blame this drop-off on one thing – VAR.
Referees now have the safety net of the post-incident video, and that has, in some instances, led to the officials shirking their responsibilities and waiting for the video assistant to make the big calls for them.
Whether or not the right decisions are made often enough is up for debate, but how the referees operate has certainly changed in recent years.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
