Coote in the act: Halsey, Attwell and other great referee controversies
From match-fixing to an official ‘making an idiot’ of himself by celebrating, we look back at five notable incidents
Mark Halsey, a former Premier League referee, claimed in 2016 he was put under pressure by Professional Game Match Officials Ltd to lie about whether he had seen an incident. Steven Nzonzi, playing for Blackburn at Stoke in 2011, elbowed Ryan Shawcross, but Halsey was happy it was not a red-card offence. Halsey claimed PGMOL bosses wanted him to say he hadn’t seen the incident so they could apply retrospective punishment. “My bosses weren’t happy,” Halsey told the Sun. “I was under pressure to say I hadn’t seen it. I was furious but no matter what industry you are in, you do what your bosses say. So [Nzonzi] was charged and got three matches [banned]. I know it goes on because other referees have told me. Nothing can happen because nobody can say anything publicly as a referee. But I suspect it does go on. There are outside influences on different situations.” The PGMOL later issued a statement of denial: “Match officials submit their reports, including critical incidents, directly to the FA. There is no pressure from the PGMOL to include or omit anything.”
