Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear has slammed officiating standards and decision making in the Premier League, in the club’s match day programme, citing an example from a recent Aston Villa game as a case in point.
Villa conceded a goal against Manchester City last month, when Tyrone Mings had the ball robbed off him by Rodri, who was stood well offside.
The laws, at that stage, dictated that Rodri should be deemed onside – as Mings had attempted to play the ball.
But within days of the goal being given, the PGMOL changed the law in the Premier League.
If the same incident happened today, City’s goal would have been ruled out, and Villa would have remained level in the match.
And Leeds CEO Kinnear feels that incident, as well as one involving Southampton’s Danny Ings, highlighted the poor standard of officiating across the league.
“This column has endeavoured to avoid commenting on officiating controversy but away from Leeds we have seen more decisions which are bastardising the very foundations of the laws of the game,” he said.
“Whether it’s Manchester City scoring a goal which is 20 yards offside because Tyrone Mings has the audacity to attempt to clear the ball or it’s Southampton’s Danny Ings scoring a perfectly good equaliser, if it were adjudged by the spirit of the game, only to be denied by a geek over a hundred miles away frenetically trying to align his cross-hairs with an a*se and an elbow while simultaneously demonstrating that he doesn’t know one from the other.
“The trend towards consistent tampering with the laws and their interpretation, overalled with the dubious benefits of increased technology, is a worrying one. It is important that we don’t allow our rule makers to damage both the spirit of the game and its ability to entertain by solving problems that only they perceive.”
The stunning rant came just before Leeds’ game with Everton last night, which thankfully passed without officiating incident.
Kinnear’s mood may not have been improved by the result though, as Leeds slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Everton at Elland Road last night.
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