West Ham are reportedly planning to lodge a formal complaint with PGMOL after their late equalizer against Arsenal on Sunday was disallowed due to VAR intervention. The Hammers, who started the game in the relegation zone, believed Callum Wilson’s 95th-minute goal from a corner kick had saved them a vital point in the relegation battle.
The controversy surrounding the ruling is intense given the size of the competition, with The Times reporting that West Ham are set to lodge a formal complaint against the decision that nearly cost them elimination.
The report said it took match officials more than four minutes to conclude that Wilson’s goal was disallowed. Kavanagh is also said to have studied the incident on a pitchside monitor 17 times after being told to review the goal.
West Ham strongly believes that any incident that takes this long to resolve does not meet the clear error criteria required for VAR to intervene.
The East London side, who are one point behind Tottenham in the Premier League table, have one game left to play and could request to hear the exchange between Kavanagh and Darren England, who has been appointed as the VAR officer for this match.
Manager Mikel Arteta praised the referee’s courage in disallowing the goal, but Nuno Espirito Santo had a contrasting view after the game. “They have to work it out. They have to come to the club and explain the reasons behind the different decisions,” he said.
“We are upset and sad. This can’t happen. Everyone is confused. The players don’t understand it. This has happened over the last few seasons and even the referees don’t know what is a foul and what is not a foul. There are a lot of questions and speculations about this.”
Jarrod Bowen also disputed the decision, saying: “If you look at some decisions long enough you’ll find something to give and that’s what ended up happening. Corners, physicality, Premier League – there’s going to be contact and scuffles. There’s a lot of holding and grappling in the box. Are you going to look at that every time and give a penalty?”
