PGMOL admit Everton player should be banned against Arsenal | OneFootball

The PGMOL have admitted that Everton’s James Tarkowski should have been sent off against Liverpool and banned against Arsenal, but it appears he’ll avoid any punishment.

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The Professional Game Match Officials Limited have informed the BBC that James Tarkowski’s challenge on Alexis Mac Allister during Wednesday’s match between Liverpool and Everton met the threshold for serious foul play.

Tarkowski caught Mac Allister at almost knee height with the full force of his studs with both feet off the ground, but the referee judged that it wasn’t a red card because the Everton player had played the ball first.

The PGMOL, the Premier League’s refereeing body, believe that decision not to award a red card should have been overturned after a VAR review.

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Referee Sam Barrott deemed the challenge to be no more than “reckless” in real time, which is only a yellow card. VAR Paul Tierney didn’t feel that was a clear and obvious error.

But the PGMOL have confirmed that wasn’t the right call. They’ve informed the BBC that they want to operate in a transparent way by admitting their mistake immediately.

Yet despite that admission, there’s no suggestion retrospective action will be taken against Tarkowski.

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In the past, players were awarded retrospective bans when they made red-card challenges that the referee failed to judge correctly in real time. The PGMOL have already effectively admitted that Tarkowski should be serving a three-match ban beginning this weekend.

But in the VAR era, mistakes are just admitted and forgotten. As a result, Tarkowski will be available to attempt more leg-breaking challenges against Arsenal on Saturday.