Credit: Sky Sports/Crystal Palace FC

Chris Smith

Sun 17 August 2025 15:55, UK

Referee Darren England has come under fire for his role in Eberechi Eze’s disallowed free-kick goal against Chelsea on Sunday.

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Former PGMOL boss and ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett has accused England of failing to carry out his ‘management duties’ in respect to the distance between the defensive wall and attacking players.

Palace were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box in the 11th minute at Stamford Bridge when Marc Cucurella felled Will Hughes, with star attacker Eze lining up for an effort at goal.

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

Referee England was called over to watch the goal again on the VAR monitor.

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The goal was eventually disallowed, initially for what looked like a push by Marc Guehi on Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo.

However, England quickly clarified that the strike was chalked off for the lesser-known rule of Guehi not being at least one metre away from the wall when the shot was taken.

“After review, away number six is less than one metre away from the wall as the shot is taken.

Therefore, it’s an indirect free kick and a disallowed goal,” England announced to the Stamford Bridge crowd.

While Hackett notes that the correct decision was made by the letter of the law, he also criticised England for not making sure there was an appropriate distance between the wall and the attackers before Eze struck the ball — labelling the ruling out of the goal as a ‘technicality’.

“The reason the goal was chalked off is because the wall, the defenders and attackers, were not a metre apart.

That’s the law,” Hackett exclusively told Football Insider.

“Therefore, technically, when the ball hit the net and defenders and attackers were together, it’s right to disallow the goal.

The reason he’s at fault is because part of his management duty is to ensure that before the kick is taken, before he signals for that kick to be taken, there is a metre gap between the defenders and the attackers in the wall, when it’s formed.
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