11 March 2024 , 14:44
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Richard Keys believes that referees have been “scared” of Michael Oliver since his angry reaction to being sent to the VAR screen two seasons ago.
The Premier League official has been under scrutiny this week after failing to award Liverpool a late penalty vs Manchester City. Jeremy Doku kicked Alexis Mac Allister in the chest but neither Oliver nor VAR Stuart Attwell deemed the challenge to be worthy of a penalty.
Since then, Keys has been critical of Oliver and claimed that fellow officials are scared of sending him to the VAR screen to review his decisions. He believes that comes from an incident during the 2022/23 campaign as Oliver was asked to review a penalty award between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
Taking to his personal blog, Keys wrote: “There was no way he was going to ask Oliver to go to the monitor. Not since Saturday, September 4 2022 has that happened. Do you remember the incident?
“The match was Forest v Bournemouth. Forest were awarded a pen by Oliver when Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly handled. Before the kick was taken, Oliver was invited to the monitor to review his decision. He decided his original call was correct. Of course he did.
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“At the time we all praised him for having the guts to stick with his decision. I believe it was the first time a ref had stayed with his on-field call after being sent to check it. Well - overturn it, because that always happens.
“What isn’t so well known - but I’ve referred to it before - is that Oliver was furious he’d been asked to check his decision and he let his colleagues know, in no uncertain terms, at their next meeting.
Michael Oliver awarded Nottingham Forest a penalty for handball in September 2022 (Getty Images)Should Liverpool have had a penalty vs Man City? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“I can’t think of too many times since - if any - when Oliver has been back to a monitor. I would add that he’s one of the busiest when he’s in the bunker - but the message is clear when he’s got the whistle - don’t bother me.”
It is not the first time that Keys has suggested that fellow officials do not want to intervene with Oliver’s decisions. He also claimed David Coote should have sent Oliver to the VAR monitor during Liverpool’s win at Brentford.
He said: "Brentford should’ve had a pen. Robertson knew it was a pen. You can see that by the way he limply kicks the ball away after clattering Toney. The only person in the ground that didn’t think it was a pen was Michael Oliver. What happened to VAR?
"David Coote went missing because he knows that Oliver is never going to accept someone he regards as inferior to him sending him to a monitor. Operators are scared of Oliver so they back off. We know this because Mike Dean admitted as much early in the season. Refs help their mates out and duck controversy."
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