Referee Simon Hooper not being stood down from Premier League duty after Man City error | Football News
Referee Simon Hooper will not be stood down from officiating Liverpool’s game at Sheffield United on Wednesday, despite his error in Man City’s 3-3 draw with Spurs.
It has been accepted that it was human error that saw Hooper call back a Manchester City advantage in the 3-3 draw with Tottenham on Sunday.
Hooper initially allowed the game to continue after Erling Haaland was fouled, but then blew his whistle as Jack Grealish received the ball 40 yards from goal in behind the Spurs defence.
Erling Haaland is clearly fouled by Emerson Royal and referee Simon Hooper has a decision to make
Hooper puts the whistle to his mouth to give the free-kick, but does not blow the whistle with the play still developing
Hooper then takes the whistle from his mouth and plays a clear advantage to City, with Haaland still on the ball
Hooper then pulls back the play after Haaland played an impressive through ball for Grealish to run on to
Hooper was stood down earlier this season after failing to award a penalty to Wolves in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester United for a challenge by Andre Onana on Sasa Kalajdzic in stoppage time.
Referee Hooper felt the wrath of the Etihad Stadium crowd at the full-time whistle, with Haaland remonstrating with the officials before storming down the tunnel.
The Man City striker later posted, “Wtf”, on social media in response to a clip of the incident. This is a written abbreviation which includes a swear word.
Sky Sports pundits Micah Richards and Roy Keane criticised the referee for the decision
“The evidence is there for all to see, he should have let play go on,” said Richards. “You can see on the fourth official’s face, he knows the referee has made the mistake. How can you explain it?”
Keane added: “The referee has made a mistake. It’s a poor call, he’s got it wrong.
“Grealish is through on goal and credit to him, he played advantage. But he’s got that [the decision to bring it back] wrong. We can all see that.”
