The referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), has said it is appalled by the “abhorrent abuse”, including death threats, Michael Oliver and his family have received after his controversial decision to send off Myles Lewis-Skelly in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory at Wolves.
PGMOL said it has involved police after Oliver and his young children had been subjected to various threats in the wake of Saturday’s match at Molineux. Riccardo Calafiori scored the only goal after the Wolves midfielder João Gomes was given a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Jurriën Timber.
Oliver stunned both teams by giving Lewis-Skelly a first-half red card for what appeared a cynical challenge on the Wolves defender Matt Doherty. The Premier League’s match centre described the incident as “serious foul play” and said the VAR, Darren England, checked and confirmed the referee’s decision.
The former head of PGMOL, Keith Hackett, called for Oliver to be stood down following the furore. “I’d be saying to Michael Oliver, I think you need a rest and I think you’re not going to see another game in the Premier League for a couple of weeks,” Hackett told TalkSport.
A statement from PGMOL on Sunday read: “We are appalled by the threats and abuse directed at Michael Oliver following the Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal fixture. No official should be subject to any form of abuse, let alone the abhorrent attacks aimed at Michael and his family over the past 24 hours.
“The police are aware, and a number of investigations have commenced. We are supporting Michael, and all those affected, and are determined to tackle this unacceptable behaviour. Sadly, this is not the first time a match official has been forced to deal with threats in recent times.”
The Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, declined to criticise Oliver directly but seethed at the decision to send off the teenager. “I am absolutely fuming,” he said. Arteta also made it clear he expects the decision to be overturned by the Football Association.
“If we cannot change actually what happened [in the game], hopefully at least it will be fair for the team, for the player and everybody what is going to happen in the next few weeks. I think it’s that obvious, maybe we don’t even need to [appeal].”
Oliver is widely regarded as one of the best Premier League officials and was selected to referee at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The former England striker Alan Shearer described Saturday’s call to send off the 18-year-old Lewis-Skelly “one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in a long time”.
