Referee Michael Salisbury has been dropped from the next round of Premier League fixtures, following the controversy surrounding his failure to award Brighton a penalty during their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham last Saturday. Refereeing body PGMOL has admitted an error was made and apologised to the Seagulls for not giving the spot-kick. Stuart Attwell, who was the on-pitch referee for the match and did not react to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s tackle on Kaoru Mitoma inside the Spurs’ box, will now take up the role of VAR official for Wolves’ home game with Brentford this Saturday. PGMOL chief Howard Webb has also made contact with senior Brighton officials to acknowledge the mistake.
Had Brighton been awarded the penalty, they would now be in sixth place, a point behind fifth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand. Manager Roberto de Zerbi was vocal in his post-match interview, stating that it was “clear” his side should have been given a penalty. The club has since asked for clarification of a number of decisions, including a further penalty claim when Lewis Dunk’s shirt was pulled in the box, as well as two Seagulls goals which were disallowed for handball. De Zerbi and Spurs interim head coach Cristian Stellini were also both sent off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for an earlier touchline incident. Brighton will now face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the top flight on Saturday at 15:00 BST.