Referee Simon Hooper will not be stood down from officiating Liverpool's game at Sheffield United on Wednesday, despite his error in Man City's 3-3 draw with Spurs.
It has been accepted that it was human error that saw Hooper call back a Manchester City advantage in the 3-3 draw with Tottenham on Sunday.
Hooper initially allowed the game to continue after Erling Haaland was fouled, but then blew his whistle as Jack Grealish received the ball 40 yards from goal in behind the Spurs defence.
Image: Erling Haaland is clearly fouled by Emerson Royal and referee Simon Hooper has a decision to make
Image: Hooper puts the whistle to his mouth to give the free-kick, but does not blow the whistle with the play still developing
Image: Hooper then takes the whistle from his mouth and plays a clear advantage to City, with Haaland still on the ball
Image: Hooper then pulls back the play after Haaland played an impressive through ball for Grealish to run on to
Hooper was stood down earlier this season after failing to award a penalty to Wolves in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester United for a challenge by Andre Onana on Sasa Kalajdzic in stoppage time.
Referee Hooper felt the wrath of the Etihad Stadium crowd at the full-time whistle, with Haaland remonstrating with the officials before storming down the tunnel.
The Man City striker later posted, "Wtf", on social media in response to a clip of the incident. This is a written abbreviation which includes a swear word.
Sky Sports pundits Micah Richards and Roy Keane criticised the referee for the decision
"The evidence is there for all to see, he should have let play go on," said Richards. "You can see on the fourth official's face, he knows the referee has made the mistake. How can you explain it?"
Keane added: "The referee has made a mistake. It's a poor call, he's got it wrong.
"Grealish is through on goal and credit to him, he played advantage. But he's got that [the decision to bring it back] wrong. We can all see that."
famabdrtuz
1026
This ref is the most annoying guy in the whole world
Simon240
832
If Grealish scored, the goal would have still been ruled out because he was in an offside position.
Ig_brarm
534
Punishment is only for players not for referees because Players are machines & Referees are Human Beings
KenSaroWiwa77
533
If you can't punish the referees then stop punishing the players and the coaches!
jioadimpuy
380
It's alleged that when the referee was asked why he stopped the game as Grealish played on one on one with the goalkeeper, his reply was "to save Grealish from embarrassment because he was going to miss it big time" 🙄
hiudmstuz
225
Oh Simon Hotspur ❓❓❓
dougiefresh
149
There is nowhere in football rules that says a referee has to play ADVANTAGE. It's left to his discretion if he so chooses. ACCEPT AND MOVE ON
MrBiggy
142
Don’t forget guys