By Keith Hackett

6th Sep, 2022 | 11:31am

Ex-Fifa official: Premier League trying to silence Newcastle United after 'dangerous' twist in controversy

The Premier League are trying to “suppress” comments in the media about the controversial decision to disallow a Newcastle United goal in their 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday (3 September).

That is the view of former Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the “danger” of the Premier League’s review into the decision.

Newcastle thought they had scored through a Tyrick Mitchell own goal only for it to be disallowed for a Joe Willock foul on Vicente Guaita.

VAR disallowed the goal but on further inspection, it appeared Mitchell had pushed Willock into the goalkeeper.

BBC Sport reported on Sunday (4 September) that the PGMOL have effectively accepted that the wrong decision was made and they will “fully cooperate” with a review into the incident.

“I’ll tell you what it looks like, it looks like they are trying to suppress the comments in the media because we will not know the outcome,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.

“There’s a danger here, refereeing has to be independent. 

“Can I remind you that the PGMOL is funded by, and the board of directors is the FA, the EFL and the Premier League. They are already on the board, they already have a line of communication.

“They have gone public to try and say ‘We’re going to resolve the issue’.

“Well, we’re into the fourth year of VAR execution in this country and like I’ve been saying all that time, we’re hopeless at it.”

In other news, a medical insider has claimed Callum Wilson may now be out until October after a Newcastle United update.