West Ham United has requested explanation from the Premier League regarding the decision to rule out Maxwel Cornet’s injury-time equaliser against Chelsea on Saturday.
According to The Athletic, the team was previously scheduled to meet with the Premier League, but they intend to bring up the topic during the negotiations.
It comes after a tense finish to a London derby that had a long buildup. Thomas Tuchel’s men failed to register a single shot on goal in the first half, and the game was scoreless at the break.
On the hour mark, a breakthrough occurred when Michail Antonio scored to give the away team the lead in the contest.
Substitute Ben Chilwell flipped the tie in the west London side’s favour, first scoring to square the score before assisting Kai Havertz late on to apparently hand the home side all three points.
The game was far from over, though, as the late drama continued with a Cornet strike to tie the score in injury time.
However, when checking the pitchside monitor on VAR, referee Andy Madley quickly reversed the goal, ruling Jarrod Bowen fouled the onrushing Edouard Mendy in the build-up.
Many people were outraged by the decision, with Alan Shearer calling it “disgraceful” and suggesting it was a “bad day” for several clubs in terms of officiating. West Ham boss David Moyes agreed, and he went on a rant about it after the game.
“It is a scandalous decision, absolutely rotten from one of the supposedly elite referees,” Moyes told Sky Sports. “It doesn’t say much about whoever sent him over from VAR as well. It is an unbelievable decision against us.”
With the Hammers set to meet the Premier League and seeking clarification over the process, it remains to be seen if there will be sweeping change when it comes to officiating.
West Ham escape FFP sanctions
Chelsea, Leicester, Man City and West Ham have avoided sanctions under UEFA financial fair play rules because of ‘exceptional COVID deductions and consideration of historical financial results’
However, the clubs have been warned that those exemptions do not apply this season and they will be ‘monitored closely in the upcoming period’.
UEFA have concluded settlement agreements with eight clubs who agreed to a total of £149M (€172M) in financial contributions.
The analysts concluded the English clubs, along with Rangers, were compliant because they ‘were able to technically fulfil the break-even requirement thanks to the application of the COVID-19 emergency measures and/or because they benefited from historical positive break-even results’.
The governing body found that AC Milan, AS Monaco, AS Roma, Beşiktaş JK, Inter Milan, Juventus, Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain did not comply with the break-even requirement.
