Premier League Referees Under Pressure Following Last Week's Stag Do in Spain

Published on: 04 March 2017

According to the Mail Online, Premier League officials Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor are set for heavy criticism as both men were involved in a stag do in Marbella last week.


Kevin Friend was the referee at a hotly contested match at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon as Manchester United drew against 10 man Bournemouth whilst Anthony Taylor was the man in the middle as Swansea hosted Burnley later that day.


The report cites a tweet from Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker as the former England international mentioned that he had read reports that the two referees were involved in a stag do that took place last week.

Some appalling refereeing today from Anthony Taylor and Kevin Friend. Reports that both were on Taylor's 3 day stag in Marbella. #Hangover

Friend received a lot of criticism regarding his performance in Manchester as not only did he miss a stamp from Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings on United striker Ibrahimovic, but he also didn't take any action against the Swede's retaliating swinging elbow moments later.


Bournemouth were further incensed by the referee's decision to send off Andrew Surman in the aftermath of both incidents, feeling that the midfielder had been given a harsh booking for an earlier challenge on Luke Shaw.


Friend made things even worse when he appeared to forget that he had booked the Bournemouth man earlier and he had to be reminded by United skipper Wayne Rooney.

Anthony Taylor was the centre of controversy at Swansea as he awarded Burnley a penalty when in fact, it had been Burnley player Sam Vokes who clearly handled the ball in theSwansea penalty area. Luckily for Taylor, it wasn't costly as Swansea recovered and won the match 3-2.

It appears that video technology can't come soon enough.


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