Mark Halsey criticizes the poor standard of refereeing in the Premier League

Mark Halsey made scathing remarks against referees’ chief Mike Riley and his assistant Keren Barratt

Mark Halsey, the 52-year-old who called time on his refereeing career at the end of the last season, has lashed out at the poor standard of refereeing in the Premier League.

Halsey placed the blame squarely on the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) referees’ chief Mike Riley and his assistant Keren Barratt, both of whom are in charge of supervising the referees.

Speaking to The Sun, Halsey said: “Don’t get me wrong, there are some really top referees out there. I reckon currently there is a ‘great eight’, in no particular order: Mark Clattenburg, Howard Webb, Mike Dean, Andre Marriner, Lee Probert, Martin Atkinson, Phil Dowd and Chris Foy.

“But as for the other 10 on the elite list, well… some are just not up to it while others need more experience, better nurturing and coaching.”

“[PGMOL] are running the whole show on an apparent power trip while creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia. That is not helping the weaker officials improve and the system often confuses and frequently frustrates the best referees who get mixed messages about what is expected of them.”

Launching a scathing attack on Riley, he said: “Riley had a reputation for being an over-fussy and pedantic ref. And his manner as general manager of elite referees – whereby he liaises with the Premier League and League Managers’ Association – appears not to have changed.”

Halsey raised a case of conflict of interest against Barratt, who wears two hats. He said: “How can he do that (be their mentor) when he wears another hat as head of the evaluation committee, which adjudicates and has the power to mark down referees, axe officials from matches or ultimately kick them off the list? There is a clear potential conflict of interest in the two roles.”