iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

On holiday until the end of the season so, unfortunately, no analyses of the match officials' appointments for the last 2 weekends, but I will come back during the break with some data and infographics about this whole season. To everyone whose club is still fighting for something, ALL THE BEST! ✊🏻

030

Saying that, the last paragraph may be fitting here if the ref interpreted Pablo's action as "shield the ball" without holding arms or body of the opponent... Tough anyone who's played football, and probably everyone else too, can see exactly what is going on.

020

But yesterday's decision was spot on. And I get that fans want to be angry because the laws are not applied consistently... But the anger should be directed at all the episodes where the law is NOT applied, not at the few ones where finally the ref gets it right 🤷🏻‍♂️

020

Where you could have had grounds to appeal the decision, and I believe it would have been the correct call here and in many episodes this season, is in Law12 because Pablo is actively moving in Pickford's way to obstruct him, so it should have been a free kick. Were you robbed? You could say that

220

Tough one. There is a key difference: the holding of the GK's arm. In fact, in the new rules for 2025-26, only "holding" is considered an offence. Anything else is really the ref's discretion. To be fair to Kavanagh, he's the only one who awards these fouls (not always), like the pen in #FULMUN

121

Attwell is also on back-to-back Manchester United games, having been at VAR last week in #MUNLIV (and we all saw how it went). So, once again, a "favourable" official to help Michael Carrick's good run, as per all the findings highlighted here: bsky.app/profile/pgmo...

000

In terms of recurring appointments: - #LIVCHE, Pawson was VAR in the reverse fixture - #SUNMUN, Attwell was the ref in the reverse fixture as well (and Whitestone as 4th) - #WHAARS, Kavanagh again, was 4th in the reverse fixture - #TOTLEE, Gillett was VAR in the reverse fixture Totally avoidable

100

The other possible conflict is Peter Bankes at VAR in #SUNMUN, because he is an Everton fan and next week is #EVESUN, so he is in a position to potentially influence the game (for example, recommending a red card for DOGSO) 🤷🏻‍♂️ We'll see.

100

Hussin and Bell are noteworthy for another reason... They will be at VAR for #MCIBRE then, less than 24h later, officiate in #WHAARS (as assistant and 4th). So they are directly involved in the title race. As if appointing Kavanagh had not been controversial enough 🤦🏻‍♂️

100

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

With all the clubs still in Europe there isn't much to talk about workload, as the English referees were all resting. There are officials who will have less than 24h rest between matches, though: - Bramall and Massey-Ellis in #CRYEVE - Tierney and Howard in #NFONEW - Hussin and Bell in #WHAARS

100

The officials for Matchweek 36 are out: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4646... Maybe Kavanagh from Manchester (who also sits on Manchester FA's board and trains on City's grounds) wasn't the ideal choice to referee Arsenal, but hey, they're all professionals. Analyses will follow

premierleague.com

Match officials for Matchweek 36

See who will be officiating in the next round of Premier League fixtures, including the Video Assistant Referees

110

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

But did he do it alone? bsky.app/profile/pgmo...

000

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

I predicted it, didn't I? And with the the controversy of Bruno's booking going United's way... 🤷🏻‍♂️ I don't think the win was undeserved, but here I focus on referees. #MUNLIV

010

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Darren England to officiate the #MCICHE FA Cup final on the 16th of May: www.thefa.com/news/2026/ap... I appreciate that the website is showing each official's FA registration. This should be the standard of transparency everywhere.

000

And on Sunday, for #MUNLIV, the perfect mix of local (Taylor as 4th) and "favourable" (England as ref and Attwell at VAR). At aVAR, another of the less-experienced: Constantine Hatzidakis. Football is often unpredictable, but data suggests you may place a safe bet on this game. We'll see

000

[7/7] The unusual Pawson headstart, more local refs, less experienced assistants at VAR... These are the differences in PGMOL's appointments to Man United games during Amorim's and Carrick's tenures. No one can tell whether any of this plays a part in Carrick's better run, but the data is there

100

[6/7] Also, a few officials have only faced either Amorim or Carrick, not both. - Amorim: Madley, Kitchen, Kirk, J.Smith, Webb, Hopton, Davies, Wood - Carrick: Herczeg, Allison In particular with aVAR roles, Amorim had many SG2 refs while Carrick has more inexperienced ones 🤔

100

[5/7] There's also been an increase in "local" appointments (Taylor, Tierney, Kavanagh and Donohue), despite this being at odds with PGMOL's own policy, as we discuss here extensively. Tierney in particular, 1 game with Amorim, 4 with Carrick. Though they lost 3 with him as ref or VAR (won 2).

100

Serie A refs chief Rocchi under criminal investigation

[4/7] Interestingly, they are all up there with the most apps. So, with 5 of their Top 7 most frequent refs, Man United only lost that 1 game with Pawson in Matchweek 6. Is there a preference to appoint "good" officials whenever possible, then? As in Serie A (global.espn.com/football/sto...)?

global.espn.com

Italian soccer is in crisis on and off the field, with another refereeing scandal emerging on the heels of the men's team's repeated failure to qualify for the World Cup.

100

[3/7] And despite United's difficulties, Pawson seems to be a good talisman, with only 1 loss over 8 matches (Amorim). Same as Stuart Attwell: no losses and even 4/4 wins under Amorim (more than half of their 7/20 wins). Darren England is another positive one, Jones and Barrott too. No games lost.

100

[2/7] Starting with Pawson. I went back a few seasons and couldn't find another instance of a ref being paired with the same club for 3 consecutive games (and then 4 in 6 weeks, all in decision-making roles, ref or VAR). Crucial matches as well, v City and Arsenal, not without controversies.

100

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

While updating the big matrix (bsky.app/profile/pgmo...), I once again noticed the odd back-to-back appointments of Pawson to Man United games, so I decided to do a little exercise and focus on Amorim v Carrick from a PGMOL perspective. And it was interesting. [1/7]

100

Match officials for the coming weekend: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4639... Back-to-back Arsenal games for Gillett (VAR against Newcastle, not flagging the Pop red, and on-field in #ARSFUL). Anyway, analyses will follow, as usual

premierleague.com

Match officials for Matchweek 35

See who will be officiating in the next round of Premier League fixtures, including the Video Assistant Referees

000

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I stated many times, having seen this from the inside, that Italian football and Serie A are beyond saving from corruption. Yet another scandal surfacing now, involving the Italian equivalent of PGMOL's Howard Webb: football-italia.net/report-rocch...

football-italia.net

Report Rocchi accused of removing referee Doveri, who was not liked by Inter, in April 2025

There are allegations that refereeing chief designator Gianluca Rocchi is under investigation for sporting fraud in part for choosing referees favoured by Inter in 2024-25.

030

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

For those interested in finding every referee's allegiance, here is a little bit of "reverse engineering"... Paul Howard from London has been in charge of VAR for every Premier League club except Arsenal and Tottenham. So, clearly a North London fan, but red or white?

000

FA Cup Semi-Final officials appointed

Other appointments to note... - Atwell on his 11th game with Everton in #WHAEVE; a third of a season with the same ref is a bit much (6W 1D 3L, all losses against London clubs) - The FA Cup semifinals: www.thefa.com/news/2026/ap...

thefa.com

The teams of match officials for the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals have been confirmed

001

But the most interesting recurring appointment is Gillett as VAR in #ARSNEW... he was the on-field ref in the reverse fixture and at the centre of a very controversial penalty decision (and a wrong one, as we proved): he gave the pen, but England at VAR forced the overturn against Gillett's opinion

100

In terms of workload, Peter Bankes is on VAR duty for 3 matches, #BOULEE, #SUNNFO and #WOLTOT (less than 24h rest here). There is also a recurring appointment here, as Bankes was again the VAR in #NFOSUN. Same as Ruebyn Ricardo, 4th in #BHACHE as he was in the reverse fixture.

100

The only other regional conflict of this matchweek is SG2 official Howard from London at VAR for #FULAVL, though he doesn't seem to be a good omen for London clubs so far. He will be in the VAR room for the FA Cup as well, in #CHELEE, while another Londoner, Davies, will be assistant ref

100

So, in #MUNBRE, Kavanagh from Manchester (and on the board of the Manchester FA) will be the on-field. Between both clubs, they have a combined 17W 1D and 5L when a Manchester-based ref was officiating this season (all the losses with such refs at VAR, except the derby).

110

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

First, the update on the infographics... Remember that PGMOL's current appointment policy theoretically bans same-city officials from a match but offers no guidance for regional conflicts, as Serie A did until last season. Btw, ~70% of MUN conflicts happened after Carrick's appointment

100

It has taken quite some time, but we now know that Marco Silva's appeal has been partially upheld (he was charged by the FA for his comments after the West Ham game in March): www.thefa.com/news/2026/ap...

thefa.com

Marco Silva update

Fulham manager's appeal partially upheld

010

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Here are the remaining appointments of match officials for Matchweek 34: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4623... Surprise, surprise, yet again a Mancunian ref is assigned to a Manchester club. Analyses will follow, and I suppose an update on the local refs infographic as well

premierleague.com

Match officials for Matchweek 34

See who will be officiating in the next round of Premier League fixtures, including the Video Assistant Referees

131

PGMOL Watch @pgmol-watch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I mentioned a few times (see my recent post about Semenyo) how some players have a special "protection": VVD, Rodri, B. Silva, Saliba, Chalobah, Bruno G, Cunha, Kane, etc. I have seen this first-hand and you can all easily eyeball it, but I never had a proper conversation with refs to explain why

100

And maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, when in fact this proves that it's Bournemouth who are treated differently and harsher than other clubs, who knows. Anyhow, time to go watch the UCL

000

The management of bookings was one of the unfair advantages that Juventus had in Serie A during the Moggi era, ensuring they always had the best possible squad available, bar injuries. So, I picked Semenyo because he's an easy comparison within the same year. But like I said, purely anecdotally

100

Ask any fan of any club, and they will all remember at least one episode involving these two. So, is City officiated differently? There is no hard evidence that this is the case (and City fans will quickly point at Foden v Newcastle) but coming from a corrupt system like Serie A, I have my doubts

100

There are players we all feel that they get away with a lot more than their peers: Chalobah with a few penalties, Saliba with holding in the box, VVD with aggressiveness, Cunha with diving, etc. But the ones who appear in every discussion, week in, week out, are Rodri and Bernardo Silva.

100

Semenyo picked up his first yellow card in a City shirt in #CHEMCI, which is interesting considering he used to be one of the worst "offenders" in the PL. Now, this infographic is merely anecdotal, but I wanted to highlight the player's disciplinary stats, as I touched upon this before the move

110

There doesn't seem to be any other issue with the officials in terms of workload, conflicts, etc. A pleasant surprise after all the poor decisions in previous weeks. Which makes it even more disappointing that PGMOL couldn't find less controversial and policy-breaking appointments for #MCIARS

000

Speaking of tiredness, and moving to the other games, these are the officials with less than 24h rest between their games: - Howard, VAR in #EVELIV - Robinson, 4th in #AVLSUN - Madley, 4th in #NEWBOU - Burt, aVAR in #MCIARS (if his conflict wasn't enough)

100

Lastly, Taylor is the only referee who has International duty this week, travelling to Spain for Celta-Freiburg (UEL) together with assistant Gary Bewsick also named above. So, of all 30 SG1 referees, #MCIARS is assigned to the one who will likely be the most tired.

100

... and also Gary Bewsick, one of the assistants, is from a town a few miles South of Newcastle, with Arsenal playing Newcastle next. So, 4 out of 6 officials are somehow "controversial". Not what you would want from PGMOL for such a big game, but maybe what many expect, given the precedents.

140