Recent refereeing issues in the Premier League and FA Cup have upped the heat on the PGMOL and referees. One of the issues came from Everton’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend when Forest released a statement accusing the referee of bias and failing to award three different calls in favor of the visitors.

Barely 24 hours later, Coventry City were denied a place in the FA Cup final by fine margins through the VAR, which was controversial for the championship side. All of these, in addition to the previous issues from VAR in the season, have led to fans, players, managers, and even clubs calling for a total revamp of the system and, in some extreme cases, a drop in use.

However, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has weighed in his opinion about the use of VAR. Unlike several other managers in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola insists that the integrity of the referees in the English top flight has not been reduced because of the wrong calls.

“They do their job as best as possible. When they do the job, they want to do it well. The game is so difficult. It is fast and quick. Decisions have to be made in one instant. It’s not easy. They feel the pressure, we put pressure on them for the passion of the game, for the moment. When I sit here and reflect, they try to do their best and are under scrutiny with the cameras there.” Guardiola said.

After the defeat at Goodison Park, Nottingham Forest revealed that they were reviewing their options as they currently are only one point ahead of Luton Town, who sit in the last relegation zone.

Meanwhile, the Premier League and PGMOL have offered Nottingham Forest the opportunity to privately hear the audio conversation of the match officials involved in their match against Everton.

Manchester City will face Nottingham Forest at the weekend after Thursday’s fixture against Brighton.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu