Brighton were not awarded a penalty when Kaoru Mitoma appeared to be fouled by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the box; the match officials and VAR waved away the claims but PGMOL has now apologised to Brighton and admitted a spot-kick should have been given
Sunday 9 April 2023 22:56, UK
The PGMOL has admitted a mistake was made by the match officials and VAR when not awarding a penalty to Brighton in Saturday's Premier League game against Tottenham.
Howard Webb, PGMOL's chief refereeing officer, has apologised to Brighton and held talks with them about the decision-making process in the game.
It is the third apology the club have been given by PGMOL this season for decisions made on the field.
The scores were level at 1-1 when Kaoru Mitoma appeared to be fouled by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the area, with referee Stuart Attwell initially declining to penalise the Tottenham midfielder.
The footage was looked at quickly by VAR Michael Salisbury at Stockley Park, before play resumed with no spot-kick being awarded.
PGMOL later said in a statement: "Following Brighton & Hove Albion's match at Tottenham Hotspur, PGMOL and the club have been in contact regarding a number of incidents during the aforementioned fixture. During that dialogue, PGMOL acknowledged that an error was made in not awarding a second-half penalty for a foul on Kaoru Mitoma.
"The key match incidents from this fixture will be reviewed in line with our normal processes."
It was one of three strong claims by Brighton - none of which were awarded to the visitors.
Brighton are seeking further clarification on other decisions by the match officials during the game and are disappointed they had two goals disallowed.
They are also keen for a wider discussion regarding other decisions that have gone against them this season.
Tottenham went on to win the feisty encounter - which saw both Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham interim boss Cristian Stellini sent off - 2-1 to keep themselves within three points of the top four.
Defeat for Brighton saw them drop down to seventh, 10 points off fourth-placed Manchester United.
Brighton’s first apology from PGMOL this season came after referee David Coote and VAR Neil Swarbrick decided not to send off Fabinho for a nasty challenge on Evan Ferguson during the Seagulls’ FA Cup fourth-round victory over Liverpool.
The second came after Pervis Estupinan had a goal incorrectly disallowed in the 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace when the VAR drew the offside lines in the wrong place when reviewing the goal.
Following the defeat at Tottenham, Brighton defender Lewis Dunk hit out at the officials, saying: "There's no point having VAR in the game if you're not going to make big decisions like that. That changes everything, I just don't understand it."
Dunk also questioned why the officials decided to uphold the decision to disallow Mitoma's earlier goal for a debateable handball but not overturn the call not to give the Japanese winger what looked to be a clear penalty, adding: "They can make the decision for the handball but can't make the other ones.
"I think they made one tight decision for a handball but they don't make a clear decision on the penalty."
Stellini admitted at full-time that Spurs were lucky with the VAR decisions, saying: "It is the first time this season we are lucky with the VAR. We have to enjoy this moment because we were many times not lucky with VAR. One time it happened for us.
"We respected many times VAR decisions. Today, everyone has to respect it.
"We conceded their aggression. We were not so aggressive. We were quiet, focused on the game only.
"I don't want to speak about this. I want to speak about the game, the way we finished, fought and didn't concede the goal."
