Stuart Phillips

For football to be adjudicated fairly, there must be consistent implementation of the rules and a standardized approach to the norms of the game. It is clear that PGMOL refs/VARs have intentionally taken extreme interpretations of both concepts to shape games to their preference. It’s no longer a suspicion that Arsenal are officiated differently; it is now an objective fact that has undermined our title challenge and soiled what could have been a historic campaign between two great clubs. They rigidly applied the letter of the law when sending off Declan Rice ("I have no choice") to harm Arsenal. They did it to Arsenal twice, then quietly agreed they wouldn't do it after blowback. Conversely, they took a lenient view of Kovacic's challenge against City to preserve the integrity of a "big game." This arbitrary extremism corrupts the game. It allows referees to take center stage, influencing outcomes with zero consequence or even scrutiny in the media. How many times does this decision making land on tone being the issue and 'mistakes happen.' The Premier League needs to demonstrate leadership. It is beginning to look like they view this as a feature of the game rather than a disgusting bug that must be eradicated before it infects fans' love for football. Michael Oliver should not be a Premier League referee after today, but he will be, and he'll be put back on Arsenal games despite his horrible record of terrible red cards (8 reds), and his freelance actions raising deeply disturbing questions over his judgement and integrity when it comes to how he refs other teams (City 0 red cards).