That settles that.
Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United teams were constantly accused by opposition fans of receiving favourable decisions from referees, in particular from Howard Webb.
The former referee became a pantomime villain for some Liverpool fans, and admitted that claims of bias towards United affected him towards the end of his career.
The topic of referees’ decisions has been particularly prominent in the past few days.
Sergio Aguero retrospectively received a three-game ban for an alleged elbow on Winston Reid, and former referee Mark Halsey has made claims that he was told to lie about incidents
Former Premier League referee claims he was told to lie about this incident https://t.co/yWyzEdUFuE
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 4, 2016
Halsey claimed that he was told to say he hadn’t seen incidents during games by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, and that he had a decision overruled in a game from 2011.
Steven N’Zonzi appeared to elbow Ryan Shawcross in a game between Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers. Halsey said he had seen the incident, and didn’t think it warranted a red card. However, he claims he was put under pressure to say he hadn’t seen the incident. PGMOL have denied Halsey’s claims
Gary Neville, however, isn’t happy that Halsey’s claim has been dismissed without some form of inquiry.
An official in high ranking place has told a referee to lie so that a player gets banned!! #norugtosweepthisunder
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) September 3, 2016
A Twitter user replied that former United defender wasn’t complaining when his side benefited from “diabolical decisions.”
https://twitter.com/gagewxlliam/status/772355065969598464
However, Neville firmly put him in his place, replying: “Best team, best manager and best player for 20 years. Get over it muppet.”
Best team , best manager and best players for 20 years. Get over it muppet.. https://t.co/PdwVqW7Av5
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) September 4, 2016
