PGMOL denies claims Mark Halsey was told to 'turn blind eye' to incidents

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 03 September 2016

The PGMOL releases a statement to deny accusations made by ex-official Mark Halsey, who claimed that he was told to overlook certain controversial decisions.

Referees' governing body the PGMOL has denied claims made by Mark Halsey that he was 'told to turn a blind eye' to controversial incidents during his time as an official.

The 55-year-old made the remarks during a Twitter exchange on Saturday, suggesting that he was put under pressure from his superiors to overlook certain decisions.

Halsey, who was responding specifically to the recent debate over Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero's three-match ban for elbowing Winston Reid, said: "I have been in that situation, when I have seen an incident and been told to say I haven't seen it. To be fair to the FA... it's not them. It comes from within the PGMOL."

The PGMOL has now rejected Halsey's accusation, saying in a statement: "Match officials submit their reports, including critical incidents, directly to the FA.

"Match officials ensure that their reports are a full and accurate description of the incident. There is no pressure from the PGMOL to include or omit anything."

Gary Neville was among those to question Halsey's comments, which the former Manchester United defender claimed amounted to corruption in the sport.