Enzo Maresca has questioned the promotion and demotion of referees and the use of Premier League officials in the Championship after deeming that poor decisions have cost his team in important games.
The Leicester City manager did not hold back in his assessment of the refereeing system, asking why Craig Pawson would be allowed to take charge of Premier League matches after what he believes was a mistake in City’s loss to Leeds last Friday. Patson Daka turned in a rebound at a corner in the second half to put City 2-0 up, but was wrongly called offside, with Maresca’s team going on to lose 3-1.
It wasn’t just at Leeds where Maresca felt his side were wronged. He also felt that his side should have had a penalty in the draw at Ipswich on Boxing Day for Cameron Burgess’s barge on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, while he also appealed another spot-kick in the loss to Coventry in January, as well as a second booking for Kasey Palmer.
Although that was the assistant referee’s decision, Maresca was perplexed as to why Pawson would be allowed to then take charge of top-flight matches. Pawson was in charge at Anfield in midweek for Liverpool’s FA Cup tie against Southampton and is due to referee Everton against West Ham in the Premier League this weekend.
“We had a normal goal that they disallowed,” Maresca said at his press conference on Friday, reflecting on the loss to Leeds. “It was a normal goal. It’s already happened this season many times that in a crucial moment, we had a bad decision from the referee that cost us points.
“It happened at Ipswich away, when there should have been a penalty when we were 1-0 up. It happened at Coventry away when there was a handball inside the box but no penalty. In the second half, there should have been a second yellow card, but there was no booking.
