West Ham demand answers from referee chiefs over controversial disallowed goal in Arsenal loss

West Ham United are formally contacting the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to express significant concerns regarding their controversial disallowed goal during Sunday’s match against Arsenal . The decision, which saw a potential equaliser ruled out, could prove critical for the Hammers in their bid for Premier League survival. The incident occurred when officials, following a VAR review, determined that Gunners goalkeeper David Raya had been fouled by Pablo Felipe at a corner, just moments before Callum Wilson smashed the ball into the net.

Referee Chris Kavanagh subsequently overturned his initial decision, denying West Ham a crucial goal. The club is understood to be seeking further explanations from PGMO, with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and forward Jarrod Bowen both publicly questioning the consistency of officiating around challenges at corners in the Premier League this season. PGMO’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb , is expected to address the contentious incident during Tuesday night’s edition of “Match Officials Mic’d Up”, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports and TNT Sports at 7pm.

Beyond the immediate fallout, football’s lawmakers are set to examine how best to manage grappling within the penalty area during set-pieces. West Ham remain in the relegation zone after Sunday’s loss (PA Wire) The issue of holding and wrestling at corners has been a recurring feature of the Premier League season, and Sunday’s events have brought it sharply back into focus, particularly given the physical contact evident as Raya challenged for the ball. It is understood that the International Football Association Board (Ifab), the body responsible for setting the game’s laws, is likely to discuss this topic during its next round of meetings, scheduled to commence in the autumn.

Ian Maxwell, Ifab director and chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, previously addressed the issue at Ifab’s annual general meeting in February. Maxwell stated: "It wasn’t discussed specifically at today’s meeting. Anything we can do to try to eradicate that type of behaviour… We’re aware of it from a Scottish perspective, I’m not sure it’s necessarily getting worse.