PGMOL and the Premier League Should Be Embarrassed as Everton Red Card Sparks Media Meltdown
Once again, English football finds itself drowning in controversy of its own making. The recent red card shown to an Everton player has ignited a familiar storm, one that says as much about PGMOL and the Premier League as it does about the national media’s inability to respond with balance or perspective. While debate is part of the game’s lifeblood, this episode has crossed the line from scrutiny into outright over-reaction.
At the heart of the issue is consistency — or rather, the lack of it. PGMOL has repeatedly insisted that referees are applying the laws of the game uniformly, yet fans, players, and managers see wildly different outcomes for near-identical incidents every weekend. The Everton red card felt less like the enforcement of clear rules and more like another spin of the officiating roulette wheel. When decisions appear arbitrary, credibility erodes, and that erosion is entirely self-inflicted.
What makes this episode especially embarrassing is how quickly the narrative spiralled. Within minutes, national media outlets had framed the decision as either “a disgrace” or “stonewall,” leaving no room for nuance. Slow-motion replays, selectively chosen angles, and inflammatory headlines turned a contentious call into a full-blown crisis. Instead of explaining the laws, the context, or the referee’s interpretation, much of the coverage opted for outrage because outrage sells.
Everton, of course, sit in a uniquely vulnerable position. In recent seasons, they have often felt like an easy target — a club scrutinised more harshly than others, with little benefit of the doubt afforded. Whether that perception is fully justified or not, incidents like this only reinforce the belief among supporters that some clubs are refereed differently. The Premier League cannot afford that perception to grow, particularly in a competition that markets itself globally as the gold standard of fairness and integrity.
PGMOL’s silence only compounds the problem. Post-match explanations, when they arrive at all, are usually vague, delayed, or filtered through carefully worded statements that clarify nothing. Transparency should not be optional. Rugby and cricket manage it; football stubbornly refuses. If referees are confident in their decisions, they should be confident enough to explain them clearly and promptly.
Yet the media must also look in the mirror. Not every controversial decision is evidence of corruption, bias, or incompetence. By amplifying extreme viewpoints, pundits and broadcasters fuel hostility towards referees at grassroots and professional levels alike. The result is a toxic cycle: officials retreat further into secrecy, fans grow angrier, and trust continues to collapse.
The Premier League and PGMOL should indeed be embarrassed — not just by the red card itself, but by the ecosystem they have allowed to flourish around officiating. Until consistency, transparency, and responsible coverage become priorities rather than afterthoughts, controversies like this will keep overshadowing the football. And that is a red card offence against the game itself.
