@DaGrubster said in EPL 2023/2024:
This is a quote from Michael Oliver from a few years ago. I’m not sure if the same rules apply at the moment but you can see why Nottingham Forest were able to raise questions about the allegiance of the VAR official.
"I never referee Newcastle games. We have to declare if we have an allegiance to any club or if a family member works at a club. You can’t do any match involving that team and I can’t do Sunderland, either, for obvious reasons.
"Because Newcastle are invariably involved in a relegation battle, when you get to March or April, it means I can’t referee anyone around them towards the bottom three.
"If Newcastle needed a point to survive and the team they were fighting to get above was say Villa, I couldn’t referee Villa’s game either. I wouldn’t want to. It’s not worth the hassle."
No idea if the same rules apply for the ref in charge of VAR - they aren't meant to be making the decisions as such, such decide whether to refer back to ref to make a call. Or draw lines and not entirely sure how much control they have over that and how much is automatic.
I should at this point state that I am a Notts County fan and we are duty-bound to dislike the mob from across the Trent. But Forest have been hard to like this season (bar Chris Wood) for their whining and employing of a ref - and complaining about their points penalty having spent a ridiculous amount last season.
Liverpool are out of the title race now unless both Arsenal and City slip up more than once - Liverpool's maximum is 86 points and given the relative goal difference, they would need Arse to get 8 points from 4 games and City 9 from 5 to finish above them.