Aston Villa file official complaint to PGMOL over refereeing decision that cost UCL spot

<p><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<p><a target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;gistreel&period;com&sol;tag&sol;aston-villa"><strong>Aston Villa<&sol;strong><&sol;a> have formally lodged a complaint with the PGMOL following what the club describes as a critical officiating error during their decisive 2-0 loss to <a target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;gistreel&period;com&sol;tag&sol;manchester-united"><strong>Manchester United<&sol;strong><&sol;a> on the <strong>Premier League’s final day<&sol;strong>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The result of the encounter saw them narrowly miss out on Champions League qualification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Villa’s complaint centers on referee Thomas Bramall’s controversial decision to disallow a second-half goal by Morgan Rogers&comma; citing a foul on United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; replays showed Bayindir did not have full control of the ball&comma; specifically&comma; he lacked two-handed possession&comma; when Rogers poked it free and scored&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; Bramall had already blown the whistle&comma; rendering VAR unable to intervene&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Just three minutes after the incident&comma; United scored through Amad Diallo&comma; followed by a late penalty from Christian Eriksen&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Villa ultimately lost on goal difference&comma; finishing sixth&comma; one point shy of the top five that would have secured Champions League football&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a strongly worded statement&comma; Villa criticized the PGMOL’s selection process&comma; stating&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;With such high stakes… the club believe a more experienced referee should have been appointed&period; Mr&period; Bramall was the second least experienced referee officiating on the final day&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Villa further condemned the inconsistency in applying VAR protocols&comma; arguing that early whistling undermined the system’s intended purpose&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A decision to whistle early is clearly inconsistent with current refereeing guidelines&period; VAR exists to ensure that these types of situations receive the scrutiny they deserve&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While the club concedes the result cannot be reversed&comma; it insists on a review of how referees are assigned to high-stakes matches and how VAR is implemented under pressure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Bramall has officiated just 11 Premier League matches this season&comma; and among Premier League referees with reduced officiating roles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;p><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;gistreel&period;com&sol;aston-villa-file-official-complaint-to-pgmol-over-refereeing-decision-that-cost-ucl-spot&sol;" previewlistener&equals;"true">Source link <&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;