PGMOL insist referee 'allegiances' will not be made public

Referees' allegiances are not going to be made public this season, despite comments from Howard Webb which appeared to suggest they would be.

The subject of which clubs officials support was thrust into the spotlight last season when Nottingham Forest criticised the decision to appoint Stuart Attwell – a Luton fan – as the VAR for their match against Everton in April where they felt Attwell denied three clear penalty claims.

Webb, the chief refereeing officer for Professional Game Match Officials Limited, said at a media briefing on Thursday that there were no plans to extend allegiances rules after Forest insisted his organisation PGMOL should take "contextual rivalries" into account when making match appointments.

However, Webb appeared to indicate referees’ allegiances would be made public for the first time when he said: "Officials are asked to declare any specific interests in advance of the season, and as the season goes on should any of those things change.

"That will be made public, I believe, so you can see what that looks like as well and what those declarations of interests are."

However, PGMOL sources later said Webb’s remarks had been misinterpreted and clarified that the intention instead was to publish the allegiances criteria.

These were duly published on Thursday afternoon, and confirmed that referees are not appointed to games involving clubs they support or played for, or where they have a material connection such as family links or a personal or business relationship. Decisions on material connections are taken at PGMOL’s discretion.

They are also excluded from refereeing matches in the town or city where they reside, apart from referees living in London.

Forest were charged by the FA for their comments about