Getty Image
The Premier League, widely considered to be the best football league in the entire world, is having an officiating crisis, as the standard of refereeing is far below the caliber of where it should be considering the league’s stature.
Just two weeks into the 2023-24 season and the league has already been marred by a handful of awful decisions. And not just small, innocuous ones, either — we’re talking calls that determine games: penalties, red cards, etc.
In an effort to make an example of just how bad the officiating has been so far this season, a popular Twitter account in the football space made a compilation of all the bad calls we’ve seen so far this season.
Clearly ruffling the feathers of the Premier League, though, the video was taken down almost immediately. Still, plenty of fans still had the chance to share their opinions of the compilation, which paint a picture of an extremely frustrated fanbase.
This countries officiating is ruining the best sport we have… #LFC https://t.co/zd02Uj3ByG
— Jacob (@JacobRedLFC) August 21, 2023
Disgusting refereeing decisions and this is only GW 2 https://t.co/tMFGpDZlRH
— Swaminathan (@swami1296) August 21, 2023
The best league in the world ruined by incompetent refs #PremierLeague
Var is not the problem, the refs are https://t.co/QJMqcvIaxN— Chia (@chiayj) August 21, 2023
Shocking decisions. VAR needs to review longer than rush decisions and get them wrong. https://t.co/tQEDlnFGp5
— Zha’til (@riogrande100) August 22, 2023
Criticism of the Premier League’s refs is popping up all over social media. For example, a Twitter account called @PoorEPLreferees has racked up over 140,000 followers thanks to tweets that plainly call out the bad decisions made throughout the league.
Yes, that should not have been a second yellow for Tomiyasu.
And it's even more ridiculous that VAR can't intervene in these calls pic.twitter.com/DnW1qzocUc
— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) August 21, 2023
Yes, that should have been a penalty to Manchester United after a clear handball from Romero pic.twitter.com/FBRu2KluED
— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) August 19, 2023
Yes, that should have never been a straight red card for Alexis Mac Allister. Awful officiating pic.twitter.com/DkGtkcRjbU
— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) August 19, 2023
Having personally followed the Premier League for over half a decade now, I’ve long said that the incompetency of its officials is the greatest threat to my love of the game, as there is nothing — and I mean nothing — as frustrating as having a match determined by an entire system of referees and replays all failing to properly do their jobs.
While the Premier League has done little in recent seasons to improve the quality of its officials, they’re certainly doing everything they can to make life cushier for the refs, as new rules implemented this offseason have outlawed players from “swarming” them to influence their decision. Furthermore, if Player A pantomimes that Player B should receive a card, Player A will then receive a yellow card.
Matchweek 3 of the 2023-24 Premier League will kick off on Tuesday when Chelsea host Luton Town on Friday, August 25.