There have been more than 100,000 signatures on a change.org petition calling for Anthony Taylor to be banned from officiating Chelsea matches following his refereeing display in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday.
The petition lists 12 decisions made by Taylor over the years which supposedly prove the referee “has an agenda against Chelsea”, while a YouTube compilation of said incidents was at the 140,000-views mark on Monday afternoon and rising by tens of thousands every hour.
It would be mild to call the subsequent social media abuse aimed at Taylor revolting. There are dozens of tweets wishing ill, and worse, on Taylor and his family, with one detestable post – reading “Anthony taylor’s mum is dead” and featuring a video of Jurgen Klopp fist-pumping towards the Kop – nearing three thousand retweets.
The abuse is sadly a side-effect of the modern game, with social media pile-ons all too frequent given the relative safety some find in posting vitriol from their own homes. That is a matter for the social media platforms, as came to the fore during Euro 2020, although the Premier League could arguably have saved Taylor from the torrent of abuse had they sped up the near-universal desire for transparency around officiating decisions.
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The change could not come any sooner, while it is hardly new to suggest that lessons can be learned from other sports including cricket and rugby union, which for years already have not shied away from playing out live audio between officials when major decisions are being looked at.
In the case of Sunday’s “Battle of the Bridge II” between Chelsea and Tottenham, transparency could have reduced the hatred aimed at Taylor in a match where Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness claimed the “only thing the ref got wrong” was the hair-pulling incident between Cristian Romero and Marc Cucurella.
Chelsea fans also took umbrage with Taylor’s decision not to penalise Rodrigo Bentancur for a challenge on Kai Havertz in the build-up to Spurs’ first equaliser, but coming so late in the game, the hair pull was crucial for the overall outcome of the match.
Romero floored Cucurella after pulling the Chelsea defender’s locks, with the incident falling before the corner from which Spurs scored their late equaliser. Taylor seemingly missed the incident, while a check from the VAR, Mike Dean, deemed there was no need for the referee to consult the pitchside monitor for a possible red card offence.
Hair pulling does not get a specific mention in football’s rulebooks, although if it is deemed violent conduct then it is worthy of a red card, and on this occasion Dean did not feel the need to intervene at the start of a season where officials have been told to set the bar high when it comes to disrupting matches.
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“But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decisions,” Tuchel said. “Since when can players be pulled at their hair? Since when is that? And if he does not see it, I don’t blame him.
“I didn’t see it, but we have people at VAR who check this and then you see it and then how can this not be a free-kick and how can it not be a red card? How?
“This has nothing to do with the referee in this case. If he does not see something, that’s why we have people to check if there’s a decisive error going on.”
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 14, 2022
"The players know what's going on…"
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says the entire dressing room 'has an issue' with referee Anthony Taylor.pic.twitter.com/fTVbJp3zxv
It all makes for a rather messy concoction. Chelsea fans feel aggrieved by decisions resulting in dropped points, likewise Tuchel and his players – “the whole dressing room” believe in this so-called agenda, he said – and all the while it feels as though Taylor is being hung out to dry despite not being entirely at fault.
It is the latest in a long list of incidents which proves transparency would help, and even if releasing audio is a long way off, a regular, accessible and official evaluation of decisions would not go amiss. It could help break down the barriers between supporters and officials, which in turn could spare us the conspiracy theories and reduce the abuse.
A counter-argument could claim that abuse would actually worsen, but if the standard of officiating is improved in the process as well, this would not be the case. And so, there is plenty for the Premier League and PGMOL to ponder, but Sunday’s match was yet more proof that football desperately needs to end this game of catch-up and replicate the sports around it. It would help everyone.
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