STYLES APOLOGISES BUT IS SENT ON LEAVE

The Independent 21 August २००७

Referee Rob Styles has apologised for denying Liverpool a valuable victory over Chelsea and been placed on temporary gardening leave for his mishandling of Sunday's fractious affair at Anfield।

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body responsible for the country's leading referees, reacted to a weekend of controversy yesterday when it announced that Styles and Ian Gosling had been punished for their performances at Anfield and Craven Cottage respectively.

Styles fell victim to the PGMOL's strict self-regulation policy for the penalty award that enabled Frank Lampard to equalise Fernando Torres' opener for Liverpool on Sunday. The referee penalised Steve Finnan for a foul on Florent Malouda when the French international had clearly leapt into the Republic of Ireland defender but, refreshingly, he last night admitted his mistake and offered a public apology to the Anfield club. It is believed he also offered a personal apology to Rafael Benitez, who had described Styles' initial decision as "absolutely unbelievable".

The Hampshire official, who was accused of cracking under pressure from Chelsea players by the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, stated: "All referees enter into matches hoping not to make any mistakes but understanding that they may happen, what none of us want is for any mistake to potentially affect the result of the match. Yesterday, in mistakenly awarding a penalty, I accept that I may have affected the result of the match and for that I apologise."

Styles' contrition followed an announcement by PGMOL general manager Keith Hackett that the referee would not have been involved in any matches this weekend, with the organisation keen to demonstrate to Premier League clubs that officials will be held accountable for mistakes.

Hackett explained: "Accountability exists and we, the PGMOL, do expect referees to get big decisions correct. On this occasion it was wrong and therefore Rob will not be officiating next weekend.

"I spoke to Rob this morning and obviously he is extremely disappointed with the decision and admitted he got it wrong. I have left a message with Rafael Benitez to apologise."

There was further confusion at Anfield on Sunday when Styles appeared to book Michael Essien for a second time but did not show the Chelsea midfielder a red card. At the time Styles confirmed to fourth official Phil Dowd that the booking was for Chelsea captain John Terry, but Hackett admitted it was another aspect of Styles' performance at Anfield that needed to be improved.

Assistant referee Gosling has also been removed from the match list for this weekend for failing to award a goal to Fulham on Saturday when a shot from striker David Healy clearly crossed the Middlesbrough goal-line.