Professional Game Match Officials Limited

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football.

Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), it was formed when English referees became professional in 2001, to provide officials for all games played in the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Football Association (FA) competitions. The organisation is funded by the Premier League, EFL, and the FA.[1]

The Select Group referees and assistant referees officiate in the Premier League matches.[1]

Staff
Name Job Title
Neale Barry FA Head of Refereeing
Mike Riley PGMOL Managing Director
Adam Watts Select Group Director
Alan Wiley Select Group 2 Director
Mike Jones National Group Director
Richard Beeby International Referee Development Manager
Simon Breivik Head of Fitness & Medicine
Paul Russell Head of Psychology

Evaluation

The Select Group referees meet twice per month for training sessions and analysis of match videos and data.[1]

The PGMOL have their own sports scientists, sports psychologists, physiotherapists, sprint coaches, podiatrists and vision scientists which mirror football clubs to help improve referee performance.

Every Premier League match is evaluated by a former senior referee to measure the referee's technical performance, along with fellow players and managers (match delegates) who assess accuracy and consistency of their decision making and management of their game.[1]

Sponsorship

The PGMOL changed its sponsorship for the 2010–11 season from Air Asia to its parent group, Tune Group.

For the 2012–13 season Expedia sponsored the officials,[2] but this agreement ended after a year.

For the start of the 2013–14 Premier League season PGMOL had no sponsor, but part way through the season EA Sports signed a long term agreement which saw their logo on the arms of all officials in the Premier League and EFL until 2019.[3]

Controversy

In September 2016, Mark Halsey, a former member and referee, claimed that PGMOL asked him to lie in match reports. PGMOL denied the claim, and no further action was taken.[4][5]

In 2020, HMRC challenged the employment status of PGMOL appointed referees. The tax authority's case centred on the claim that referees should be treated as employees. However, the courts sided with PGMOL in handing down a decision that their referees are indeed self-employed.[6]

References
  1. "Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) group officiate all Premier League matches", Premier League, retrieved 18 February 2022
    "Professional Game Match Officials", Premier League, 14 December 2012, archived from the original on 17 December 2012
  2. "Expedia Signs Up As Official Sponsor Of Professional Referees And Match Officials". Expedia. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  3. "EA SPORTS becomes long-term partner of PGMOL", Premier League, 20 January 2014, archived from the original on 15 February 2014
  4. Rumsby, Ben (4 September 2016). "Mark Halsey reveals incident he claims he was told to lie about by referee bosses as Gary Neville calls for investigation". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. "Mark Halsey: Professional Game Match Officials Limited denies former referee's lie claims". BBC Sport. 3 September 2016.
  6. "HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd". Tax Journal. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
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