PGMOL chief Howard Webb has rubbished claims Premier League match officials are showing bias towards Manchester City in a bid to get their hands on tickets for next year’s Oasis reunion gigs.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil suggested officials have a subconscious bias towards City after his side were on the receiving end of another dramatic VAR call at Molineux.
O’Neil thinks they are not knowingly ruling in favour of City in the hope of scoring tickets for the hotly anticipated summer shows.
‘I might be miles off, but if I had to award a goal to a club that could get you Oasis tickets over a club that could only get you tickets to a Dexys Midnight Runners gig, then I’m giving the goal to City. Nothing against Kevin Rowland. Come on Eileen’s a banger’, O’Neil told Paddy Power News.
‘When Chris Kavanagh goes to look at the monitor he’s stood there with his hands behind his back in a classic Liam Gallagher pose, it’s almost as if he’s channelling his inner Liam before he awards the goal. Makes you think, doesn’t it?’
John Stones’ last-gasp header was originally ruled out for an offside against Bernardo Silva, but referee Chris Kavanagh overturned the decision after viewing the pitchside monitor.
“Are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves?” 👀
Gary O’Neil questions whether there is a subconscious bias to award decisions to ‘bigger clubs’ 🤨 pic.twitter.com/GMp4Oivhuz
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 21, 2024
Audio of the VAR discussion that led to the goal was released in full on the Premier League website during which Kavanagh says:
‘I’m looking at the monitor and I’ve got a clearer view of the Manchester City badge on Silva’s shirt. So, the goal stands’.
However, Webb dismissed the idea that he and his officials were looking for freebies from the City-mad Gallagher brothers.
‘Oasis? Beatles cover band, aren’t they? Couldn’t name you one song of theirs’, he told Paddy Power News.
Of the criticism by O’Neil, Webb said:
‘You gotta roll with it. Soldier on. D’ya know what I mean? Don’t look back in anger, Gary’.
*Paddy Power News’s footy news is pure fantasy – don’t believe it for a second
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