Maddison Criticizes Refereeing Standards After Disallowed Goal in Tottenham Win
LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder james Maddison has publicly criticized the performance of Premier League referees and VAR officials, calling their start to the season an “absolute shocker.” The comments came after a goal scored by Cristian Romero in Tottenham’s 3-0 victory over West Ham United on Saturday was disallowed due to a contested foul.
Maddison, currently sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, voiced his frustration on X (formerly Twitter) following the incident at London Stadium. The disallowed goal occurred when referee Jarred Gillett blew his whistle for a perceived foul by Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven on Kyle Walker-Peters moments before Romero’s strike. VAR official John Brooks later upheld Gillett’s on-field decision.
The Premier League’s Match Center explained the ruling on X, stating that Van de Ven “pushed Walker-Peters in the back and impacted his ability to play the ball.” However, replays suggest West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen may have initiated the contact by pushing teammate Mateus Fernandes into Van de Ven, leading to the collision with Walker-Peters.
“Honestly the referees and VAR have had an absolute shocker of a start to the season,” Maddison posted. “If that goal is disallowed for a foul you will never ever see a corner be taken without [the] referee blowing for something ever again.”
The controversy unfolded despite Tottenham ultimately securing a cozy win against the 10-man Hammers, with goals from Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall, and Van de Ven sealing the result. Former Wales defender Ashley Williams also weighed in, agreeing with Maddison’s assessment.
“West Ham’s goalkeeper pushes his own player into Micky Van der Ven, who then collides with Kyle Walker-Peters but the Tottenham player didn’t initiate that contact,” Williams stated. “We’ve watched it back numerous times and you can see he doesn’t push Walker-Peters over. The referee’s given the decision on the field and as of that, VAR is reluctant to intervene but that’s what they’re there for. We’d like to see more goals given and it’s the wrong decision, which is frustrating.”
