The Premier League Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has now given its verdict on four incidents concerning Newcastle United.
The KMI panel has five members, made up of three former players and/or coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and PGMOL.
It was set up at the start of the 2022/23 season to give an independent assessment of decision-making rather than relying on the views of PGMOL or the clubs themselves.
The judgement is intended to provide an arm’s-length assessment of all major match incidents but gives weight to the decision of the referee in subjective situations, taking into account the laws of the game and the Premier League’s interpretation.
The Premier League Key Match Incidents Panel have looked at the Tottenham v Newcastle United match that was played on Saturday 29 August and voted on four separate incidents.
First incident
Just after half-time Tottenham appealed for a penalty. Omar Marmoush claiming he had been fouled by Malick Thiaw. Four members of the the panel backed the referee for not giving a spot-kick with only one dissenter, so a 4-1 vote it wasn’t a penalty to Tottenham. The VAR decision not to intervene got a unanimous 5-0 backing.
Second incident
Spurs were claiming Amar Dedic was offside when Nico Gonzalez’ brilliant long diagonal pass was headed by the right-back to Anthony Elanga who opened the scoring on 62 minutes. The Key Incidents panel unanimously backed the referee with a 5-0 vote for allowing the goal, saying that the margin fell within the thicker lines used for tight offside decisions, so Amar Dedic correctly ruled onside. The VAR was also backed unanimously 5-0 by the panel for not interfering.
Third incident
The panel also looked at the Yoane Wissa goal. They dismissed claims of offside and backed the decision by the referee with a 5-0 vote that the Newcastle United striker was onside when scoring to make it 2-0. Also 5-0 backing for VAR not getting involved.
Fourth incident
A lame claim from the Tottenham players and fans that they should have had a penalty late in the match. The ball struck Sven Botman’s arm but the Key Incidents panel voted unanimously (5-0) that the referee was correct not to award a penalty because the United defender’s arm was by his side in an expected position. Also unanimous that VAR was right not to get involved.
So Newcastle United winning 2-0 in the match and a 4-0 victory when it comes to the decisions from the Premier League Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel, or an 8-0 demolition job if you take into account their backing as well for decisions from the VAR!