English Premier League: Police investigate threats to referee Michael Oliver after Arsenal red card

Arsenal surround Michael Oliver after he was handed a red card in their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Photo / Getty Images

Police have been called in over death threats aimed at English Premier League referee Michael Oliver after his controversial red card for Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Online comments about Oliver’s young family were also reported to officers by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the referees’ body, which says it is “appalled” over “abhorrent” attacks.

Both Scotland Yard and the Northumbria Police are understood to be in the process of gathering evidence after a febrile day in which Oliver came under attack from fans and pundits.

Arsenal were understood to have been in touch with PGMOL over the abuse aimed at Oliver and are supportive of any inquiries.

Arsenal were still considering late on Sunday whether to appeal against Lewis-Skelly’s sending-off – in their away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers – which prompted the backlash. They have a 1pm deadline on Monday, local time, to do so and were expected to raise a complaint with the Football Association.

With the likes of Alan Shearer and Keith Hackett criticising the red card, Oliver faced a pile-on of abuse from Arsenal fans on social media.

PGMOL, which is in charge of referees at elite levels, said in a later statement that police had been alerted. “We are appalled by the threats and abuse directed at Michael Oliver following the Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal fixture,” the body said.

“No official should be subject to any form of abuse, let alone the abhorrent attacks aimed at Michael and his family over the past 24 hours. The police are aware and a number of investigations have commenced. We are supporting Michael and all those affected, and are determined to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.

“Sadly, this is not the first time a match official has been forced to deal with threats in recent times. We will continue to support all investigations.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has previously been ferocious in his criticism of refereeing, stopped short of turning on Oliver but admitted he was “absolutely fuming” at Lewis-Skelly being dismissed for a foul on Wolves’ Matt Doherty late in the first half of Arsenal’s 1-0 win. PGMOL’s position remains, however, that the challenge was extremely late, the point of contact was high and video evidence supported that conclusion.

Arteta declined to criticise Oliver directly but was clearly seething and highlighted the Football Association’s decision to overturn Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes’s red card against Tottenham in September.

The foul on the edge of the box was “checked and confirmed” by Darren England, with the VAR deeming Lewis-Skelly to have committed “serious foul play”.

“I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you,” Arteta said afterwards. “I think it is that obvious that we don’t need any comment today and hopefully the right thing will happen.

“Hopefully we don’t need to [appeal the decision] and if we have to, there is a really good precedent, what happened with Bruno this season as well.”

Newcastle legend Shearer was among the pundits to criticise the decision. “Never, ever a red card,” the Premier League record goal-scorer told Match of the Day. “What worries me is that you’ve got an assistant VAR and a VAR who have seen several replays in slow motion and they think that that is a clear red card.”

Lewis-Skelly misses Arsenal’s home game with Manchester City, the Carabao Cup semifinal, second leg against Newcastle and the Premier League trip to Leicester on February 15.