The chief of the Referees Body (PGMOL), Howard Webb, acknowledged that the official overseeing the Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur match on December 3 erred by stopping play after a foul on Erling Haaland.
In the dying moments of the game, Jack Grealish was on a goal-scoring opportunity when referee Simon Hooper blew the whistle for a foul on Haaland in the preceding play, despite initially signalling for play to continue.
This decision led to several City players protesting the call, resulting in the club being charged by the FA for their conduct.
“Yeah, it is an officiating mistake,” Webb said on the ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ TV programme.
“On this particular occasion, [the referee] sees a pretty strong, reckless foul challenge by Emerson Royal on Haaland. It’s in midfield, and the ball comes backwards.
“He does the hard work; he just hesitates a moment to see if an advantage is possible. But he recognises in his mind, thinking it through, that it was a strong challenge, it was reckless, and he is going to have to exercise caution.”
Webb said Hooper was “devastated“ over the mistake.
“At ground level, it’s not quite so easy to see the way that things are playing out as it is from an elevated view,” he added.