Referee and assistant stood down after FA Cup mistakes

Referee Chris Kavanagh and his assistant Nick Greenhalgh have not been selected for a Premier League game this weekend.

The pair were heavily criticised for their decisions in the fourth-round FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and Newcastle United on Saturday, which featured no video assistant referee.

VAR will not be brought in until the fifth round.

Referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) bases its selections on factors including post-match performance assessments conducted by an independent Key Match Incidents panel, ensuring accountability for officials.

Among the errors, Kavanagh and Greenhalgh missed a clear offside against Tammy Abraham for Villa’s opening goal.

A potential red card for Lucas Digne for a challenge on Jacob Murphy was also missed, along with a possible offside against Dan Burn on Newcastle‘s equaliser.

But it was the Digne non-penalty decision that really left most speechless.

The Villa full-back was two yards inside the penalty area when he was penalised for a handball, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh decided the offence was a yard outside the area and awarded a free-kick – from which Newcastle‘s Sandro Tonali scored the 63rd-minute equaliser.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney said it was “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen”.

However, despite the criticism, Kavanagh is highly regarded and in December was promoted to Uefa’s elite list of referees to join Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.

The other assistant at Villa Park, Gary Beswick, has been appointed to Nottingham Forest versus Liverpool on Sunday.

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