Mark Halsey Reveals The Decision He Was Forced To Lie About

Featured image credit: PA Images

English football was rocked yesterday when ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey revealed that he had been informed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) officials to lie about incidents during top flight games in the past, in the aftermath of Sergio Aguero's retrospective three match ban for elbowing West Ham's Winston Reid.

Halsey made the shocking reveal on Twitter, which caused former England coach Gary Neville to cry corruption and leave the FA with a huge issue on their hands.

Now, Halsey has gone one further and confirmed which incident in particular he was told to lie about. During a match between Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium in 2011, Steven N'Zonzi was hit with a misconduct charge, and later a three-game ban, for elbowing Ryan Shawcross. Speaking to SunSport, Halsey said:

"I saw the incident between Steven Nzonzi and Ryan Shawcross and was happy it was not a red card.

"Then, when the assessor came in, he said there was no problem and that I'd refereed very well. When I got the call [from the FA compliance department] I said I was still happy.

"But they said my bosses weren't happy. I was under pressure to say I hadn't seen it. I was furious but no matter what industry you are in, you do what your bosses say. So he was charged and got three matches."

Halsey also admitted that Lee Mason came under similar pressure after Wayne Rooney swore into a TV camera during Manchester United's 4-2 victory over West Ham at Upton Park, in 2011.

Wayne Rooney

Rooney's celebration following this penalty would earn him a three game ban from the FA (Credit: PA Images)

"That time when Wayne Rooney swore into a TV camera in a game at West Ham. No referee would have sent him off for that but Lee came under pressure to report that he hadn't seen it but would have given a red card if he had seen it."

What happens as a result of these revelations is anyone's guess, but we certainly haven't heard the last of this.

(H/T Dream Team FC)

Topics: Football, Premier League, FA

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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