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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kadeem Simmonds

PGMOL make referee decision following costly VAR blunder during West Ham vs Chelsea

Neil Swarbrick has been taken off VAR duty following an incident involving Tomas Soucek in the West Ham United vs Chelsea Premier League tie last weekend.

During the 1-1 draw between the two London sides on Saturday, Hammers substitute Soucek was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the penalty area from a Conor Gallagher strike.

However, Swarbrick, the Premier League's head of VAR, chose not to tell referee Craig Pawson he had missed a possible penalty. An explanation has since been released saying that because the hand that the ball struck was the 'the hand that broke the fall', a spot-kick should not have been given.

READ MORE: Ex-Manchester United striker makes bold Declan Rice point amid potential West Ham transfer

Former Premier League stars turned pundits Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy were left scratching their heads on BBC’s Match of the Day over the decision to not award a penalty, with Murphy saying 'this was unfathomable really' and Shearer adding that 'it's a shocking decision, a shocking decision' - Moyes claimed he never saw it

Now, PGMOL has made a number of changes in an attempt to eradicate further issues, with Swarbrick being excluded from the next set of Premier League matches, Matchweek 24, along with Lee Mason for an error he made in the draw between league-leaders Arsenal and Brentford.

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