'Poor' decision by PGMOL to pick Bramall - Hackett

Professional Game Match Officials Limited made a "poor management decision" in appointing Thomas Bramall to officiate Aston Villa's defeat by Manchester United, says former referees' boss Keith Hackett.

Villa have complained to referees' body PGMOL about Bramall after he made a "big mistake" in their 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday that contributed to them missing out on the Champions League.

Bramall blew for a foul when Morgan Rogers nudged the ball away from United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir before the Villa midfielder put the ball in the net.

Bramall thought Bayindir had two hands on the ball, though television footage suggested otherwise, and because he stopped play before the ball crossed the line, the video assistant referee (VAR) could not intervene.

Villa's complaint is that "one of the most inexperienced referees in the Premier League" was appointed to such an important match.

Bramall, 35, first refereed in the Premier League in August 2022 and his games this season have largely been in either the top flight or the second tier, with 11 in the Premier League and 12 in the Championship.

Of the 10 referees appointed for Sunday's final round of the Premier League, Bramall has officiated the second-fewest top-flight matches this season, above Lewis Smith, who took charge of his seventh game in Bournemouth's win over Leicester.

In a response to a Talksport video on X of former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor criticising Bramall's performance, Hackett said PGMOL "do not learn".

The former Premier League referee added: "Our top referee Michael Oliver was operating VAR on a game. What a poor management decision."

Hackett, who was chief of PGMOL under its former name Professional Game Match Officials Board, also told Football Insider he "would have expected one of our top officials to have been appointed" to the Manchester United-Aston Villa match.

He added he was "surprised and disappointed" that Oliver was appointed VAR for Tottenham's defeat by Brighton and it was "difficult to understand" why he was not picked to referee "a big game" in Sunday's final round.

Oliver has refereed 26 Premier League matches this season, behind only Anthony Taylor - who was in charge of Chelsea's win at Nottingham Forest - on 31.

What is PGMOL's appointments policy?

PGMOL told BBC Sport it does not comment on why individual appointments for matches are made.

According to the PGMOL appointments policy, all match officials must submit a declaration of interests form before the start of each season.

Match officials, video assistant referees and assistant video assistant referees are only eligible to officiate games that do not involve a club for which they have a conflict of interest.

This includes clubs they support, have played competitive matches for at first-team level or clubs from the same town or city, excluding London, where the official lives.

The policy also states officials cannot be involved in a match that directly involves a club "which has a strong association with a club for which an interest has been declared".

It is up to PGMOL's discretion to determine if a club has a strong association with that other club.

PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb can also vary the appointments at his disrection.

Given Newcastle lost to Everton on Sunday, if Villa had beaten Manchester United, they would have qualified for the Champions League in fifth instead.

Oliver is a Newcastle fan so could not have taken charge of the Everton match.

However, it is unclear if that also meant he was not appointed to officiate Villa - or Manchester City or the Forest-Chelsea match - because those sides were in the running with Newcastle for Champions League qualification.

Oliver last took charge of a Premier League game involving Villa when Unai Emery's side beat Chelsea 2-1 in February.

He is not the only experienced referee who was not appointed as the on-field match official for Sunday's final round.

Chris Kavanagh, Simon Hooper, Peter Bankes and Samuel Barrott have all refereed 20 or more Premier League matches this season but were not in the middle for any of Sunday's 10 games.

Barrott was the fourth official for Liverpool's draw with Crystal Palace, while Bankes was the VAR for Chelsea's win over Nottingham Forest.

Bramall appointed 'on merit' - Foy

Former Premier League referee Chris Foy said Bramall's decision was an "unfortunate incident" but that many referees "would have given a foul in that situation".

He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club he was "impressed" by Bramall's showing in Manchester City's 3-1 win over Bournemouth on 20 May - a match that featured a straight red card for each side.

Foy added: "He's been given the [Villa] game on merit, he was worthy of his appointment.

"Unfortunately we're talking about one decision because he made a really good decision to send the goalkeeper off and took his time to give the penalty.

"He was going really well but unfortunately we're talking about this one decision."

Former Newcastle and Aston Villa goalkeer Shay Given said Bramall will "learn" and "grow" from this situation.

"Let's not forget Thomas Bramall is a human being," he added.

"I find it more difficult when VAR with all different angles make wrong decisions. This guy has just made a human error, it's more forgivable."