{"id":294754,"date":"2023-11-22T10:25:06","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T10:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=294754"},"modified":"2023-11-22T10:25:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T10:25:06","slug":"richard-keys-slams-the-pgmol-for-appointing-kavanagh-to-city-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/richard-keys-slams-the-pgmol-for-appointing-kavanagh-to-city-liverpool\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Keys slams the PGMOL for appointing Kavanagh to City-Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Richard Keys slams PGMOL for appointing Manchester-born referee Chris Kavanagh to take charge of huge City vs Liverpool clash as he asks: &#8216;Are there no other refs?&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kavanagh was born five miles from the Etihad but does not support either team<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Referees are not allowed to officiate in matches involving their side or rivals<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A ref had metal plates after a broken jaw and feared being followed home &#8211; IAKO<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Richard Keys has hit out at the PGMOL&#8217;s decision to appoint Chris Kavanagh to referee Manchester City&#8217;s crunch clash with Liverpool\u00a0on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Kavanagh has been chosen to officiate one of the biggest games of the Premier League season despite being born in\u00a0Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, which is just five miles from the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>While Premier League officials are not allowed to referee the team they support &#8211; or any of their close rivals &#8211; Kavanagh&#8217;s appointment has been questioned by Liverpool fans.<\/p>\n<p>Keys, 66, added to the criticism on Tuesday as he posted a tweet asking why Kavanagh had been selected for the huge match at the Etihad.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Not for a moment do I think Chris Kavanagh will be anything other than professional at City but what if?&#8217; Keys wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/22\/08\/78060207-12778809-Some_Liverpool_fans_are_unhappy_that_Chris_Kavanagh_from_Greater-a-1_1700641866765.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Some Liverpool fans are unhappy that Chris Kavanagh, from Greater Manchester, has been selected to referee their top-of-the-table clash with rivals Man City on Saturday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/22\/08\/78060311-12778809-One_fan_even_pointed_out_how_close_Kavanagh_was_born_to_the_Etih-a-3_1700641893170.jpg\" height=\"367\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>One fan even pointed out how close Kavanagh was born to the Etihad Stadium, with Ashton-under-Lyne\u00a0 around five miles away from Man City&#8217;s ground\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/22\/08\/78099883-12778809-image-a-2_1700641887175.jpg\" height=\"244\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Richard Keys questioned the decision to appoint Kavanagh for Saturday&#8217;s huge lunchtime game<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;What if something goes wrong? And in a season like this who&#8217;d bet against it? Why put him under the added pressure? Are there no other refs?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It came after a user on Reddit posted a map asking for directions from Ashton-under-Lyne to the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>They titled the post &#8216;Man City v Liverpool ref born this close to City ground&#8217; and asked: &#8216;How is this allowed?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It sparked a reaction from Liverpool fans on social media. &#8216;Chris Kavanagh, from Manchester, will referee our game against City. And Noel Gallagher will be in charge of VAR,&#8217; one said.<\/p>\n<p>Another wrote: &#8216;Chris Kavanagh from Greater Manchester. Unbelievable.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>But the criticism was not universal, with one fan pointing out the Etihad was not even built when Kavanagh was born, while others said Liverpool supporters were &#8216;getting excuses in early&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool also have a good record in games which Kavanagh has taken charge of, winning 13 out of a possible 15 matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The PGMOL has strict rules forbidding officials to be involved in games including their own team or their local rivals.\u00a0Unlike other top-level referees, it is not known who Kavanagh supports.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Oliver is a Newcastle fan and therefore cannot officiate in matches involving the Magpies or their close neighbours Sunderland.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/22\/08\/77823679-12778809-Former_Sky_Sports_presenter_Richard_Keys_questioned_what_was_the-a-5_1700643320070.jpg\" height=\"390\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>beIN Sports presenter Keys, 66, has been a frequent critic of referees and the PGMOL\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/22\/08\/78060209-12778809-Despite_concerns_Liverpool_have_a_good_record_in_games_in_which_-a-4_1700642847922.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool have a good record in games in which Kavanagh has taken charge, winning 13 out of 15 matches<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I never referee Newcastle games. We have to declare if we have an allegiance to any club or if a family member works at a club,&#8217; Oliver told Mail Sport in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You can&#8217;t do any match involving that team and I can&#8217;t do Sunderland, either, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Because Newcastle are invariably involved in a relegation battle, when you get to March or April, it means I can&#8217;t referee anyone around them towards the bottom three.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If Newcastle needed a point to survive and the team they were fighting to get above was say Villa, I couldn&#8217;t referee Villa&#8217;s game either. I wouldn&#8217;t want to. It&#8217;s not worth the hassle.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Jurgen Klopp&#8217;s side could go top of the table if they beat the reigning Premier League champions on Saturday lunchtime. The game was initially due to kick-off at 5:30pm before being moved forward amid concerns over fan trouble.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12778809\/Richard-Keys-PGMOL-Man-City-Liverpool-referee-Chris-Kavanagh.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Keys slams PGMOL for appointing Manchester-born referee Chris Kavanagh to take charge of huge City vs Liverpool clash as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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