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(Credit: Sky Sports, Imago)

Oliver Walton

Sat 16 August 2025 16:50, UK

PGMOL’s Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb will not be happy with Anthony Taylor after he failed to enforce a new rule in the Premier League‘s season-opener.

Former PGMOL boss and ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett believes there will be disappointment that Taylor didn’t manage both sets of players better at Anfield on Friday.

Liverpool emerged 4-2 victors over Bournemouth on the opening day of the new campaign, and the clash was not without controversy as Taylor chose not to send Marcos Senesi off after his handball was deemed lawful by VAR.

The match referee at Anfield allowed the likes of Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister to crowd around him while the decision was being reviewed, in a move that is not allowed by law in the top-flight anymore, with only one player, primarily the captain, allowed to speak to the main official about a decision at once [Premier League].

(Credit: Imago)

PGMOL insider Hackett told Football Insider that Taylor had allowed the Liverpool players to break the rules in the first-half on Merseyside, and he has now added further comment after voicing his immediate displeasure at the event.

This article contains exclusive comments from ex-PGMOL chief, FIFA official and former professional referee Keith Hackett.

Ekitike got the Reds’ evening underway in the 39th minute as he forced his way into the Cherries’ box to poke home the opener, but things could have been very different prior to his goal after a controversial VAR call.

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The Frenchman looked to charge past Senesi in the 13th minute with the scores goalless, and the ball bounced up off the defender before he reached out and seemed to brush it with his hand to knock it out of the forward’s path.

Referee Taylor stopped the game as VAR went to review the incident, but no foul play was deemed to have taken place and the clash carried on after both Ekitike and Mac Allister had surrounded him to plead their side’s case.

Liverpool went on to win 4-2 in a frantic second-half on Merseyside, and after initially admitting that he was disappointed not to see the 46-year-old bring the new laws into play, Hackett has now revealed that PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer will also share his unhappiness at the situation.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee said: “Howard Webb, the man in charge of referees at the Premier League, made it clear in public announcements that the new law in which captains only can speak to the referee will be enforced.

“The first game of a new season sets the standard.

I think that Webb will be disappointed that his top referee (Taylor) did not enforce any sanction on the players that flouted the ‘Captains Only’ law.“

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