Referees personal allegiances will be made public this season as part of new protocols to protect football’s integrity.
The development comes after Nottingham Forest were charged by the Football Association in May after they criticised the decision to appoint Stuart Attwell – a Luton fan – for their match against Everton where they felt the referee denied three clear penalty claims.
Officials are already required to declare their allegiances to avoid any conflicts and Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer for the referees body PGMOL, has said there were no plans to change the rules after Forest insisted it should take ‘contextual rivalries’ into account when making match appointments.
‘Officials are asked to declare any specific interests in advance of the season, and as the season goes on should any of those things change,’ said Webb.
PGMOL will make public the declared allegiances of all Premier League referees in a groundbreaking move this season, Howard Webb has confirmed
Forest claimed that Stuart Attwell, who was on VAR for the game, was a Luton Town supporter
‘That will be made public, I believe, so you can see what that looks like as well and what those declarations of interests are.
‘We review each of those and then make a decision (on appointments), because there’s a conflict of interests if you declare yourself as a supporter of a club, or if you’ve played for a club.
‘If you’ve got any personal connections to people who work for clubs as well, we’ll make an evaluation of all of those (factors).’
In an exclusive interview with Mail Sport last season, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis said: ‘The truth is this specific referee [Atwell] is well known to be a Luton fan – and no doubt declared his interest to PGMOL, as all of them have to.
‘In my opinion, the PGMOL should not have selected him for this match.
‘Luton were directly below Forest at that time. In the final relegation place in eighteenth position.
Under the new rules, allegiances of all officials, including Stuart Attwell, will be made public
Former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg, who enjoyed a short stint as the club's referee analyst, further criticised the PGMOL in the media in the aftermath of the clash
‘The match against Everton was hugely important for the club’s survival in the Premier League. The PGMOL should not have risked even the suspicion or perception of any bias, even unconscious bias.
‘To be clear, we don’t expect to dictate or to impose a change to the PGMOL or Premier League but it is our duty to warn of a situation and be proactive. If this is crime...’