Leeds United referee and VAR anger vindicated as Premier League panel weighs in on controversy — YEP 17/3/26

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By Graham Smyth

Daniel Farke labelled the incident ‘crazy’ following Leeds United’s defeat to Sunderland.

Daniel Farke's anger at the officiating of Leeds United's defeat by Sunderland has been vindicated by the Premier League's Key Match Incidents [KMI] Panel.

Farke was aggrieved that Leeds were denied a spot-kick in the first half when Luke O'Nien grabbed Pascal Struijk around the neck, with the Whites defender going to the ground in the box. Struijk appealed but referee Stuart Attwell allowed play to go on and VAR did not intervene.

The KMI panel has voted unanimously to say the officials got it wrong. As reported by the BBC, the panel noted that Sunderland skipper O'Nien is 'not looking at the ball, places his arms around the neck of Struijk in a clear non-footballing action and stops the Leeds United attacker from progressing towards goal.’

Farke described it as a 'crazy' decision in his post-game press conference. Officiating has become a recurring theme in the Leeds manager's meetings with the media of late.

He was angered by the lack of penalty for an apparent handball in the game against Man City, when he was sent off at full-time for jogging onto the pitch to ask referee Peter Bankes why he had blown up so soon after the minimum stoppage time was played. At Crystal Palace on Sunday Farke was frustrated with Gabriel Gudmundsson's sending off by referee Thomas Bramall for a second bookable offence, the German insisting his defender's challenge was 'never' a yellow card.

Later in the game Brennan Johnson escaped a second yellow for a foul on James Justin that Farke deemed 'worse' than Gudmundsson's.

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