'Abhorrent' abuse of Michael Oliver condemned by referee chiefs

Oliver dismissed Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly on Saturday.

CONTROVERSY: Gabriel of Arsenal and his teammates protest to referee Michael Oliver after Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal (not pictured) is shown a red card for a foul on Matt Doherty. Pic: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Sun, 26 Jan, 2025 - 20:30

PA Staff

"Abhorrent attacks" aimed at Michael Oliver following his decision to send off Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly have been condemned by the body responsible for refereeing professional games in England.

Lewis-Skelly, 18, became the third youngest player to be dismissed in Premier League history when he was shown a straight red card by Oliver in the first half of Arsenal's 1-0 win at Wolves for taking down Ireland international Matt Doherty in his own half.

Saturday's decision was met with disbelief by pundits, with Alan Shearer calling it "one of the worst decisions that I've seen in a long time".

In a statement released on Sunday, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said: "We are appalled by the threats and abuse directed at Michael Oliver following the Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal fixture.

"No official should be subject to any form of abuse, let alone the abhorrent attacks aimed at Michael and his family over the past 24 hours.

"The police are aware, and a number of investigations have commenced. We are supporting Michael, and all those affected, and are determined to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.

"Sadly, this is not the first time a match official has been forced to deal with threats in recent times.

"We will continue to support all investigations."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he was "fuming" immediately after the match and would not comment on the decision but wants it overturned in the same way Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was let off following a red card against Tottenham earlier in the season.

"Hopefully we don't need to [appeal] and if we have to, there is a really good precedent, what happened with Bruno this season as well," Arteta said.