Following the 2-2 draw against West Brom that saw Chelsea rescuing 1 point in the last few minutes with Eden Hazard stepping up to take the late penalty kick. The Premier League’s refereeing organization apologized to West Bromwich Albion after allowing the set piece to be taken which ultimately turned the match into a draw.
Mike Riley, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), subsequently called West Brom to say sorry.
“We’ve had a phone call from Mike Riley to apologize,” Clarke told the club website.
“It doesn’t get us any more points, but it’s nice of Mike to phone. If he’s apologising, he obviously feels it was the wrong decision. We have to put it behind us now and move forward.”
The decision to give away the penalty kick was controversial as Ramires went down in the box after a collision with the defender Steven Reid. Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho was unhappy at the call that was made as the Portuguese coach believes it was a clear penalty and an apology was not necessary.
“Nobody called me to apologize that it wasn’t a free-kick against West Brom for their second goal,” said Mourinho.
“I am curious to know if people see that as a normal situation, if now on it is going to be the same for everybody [to get a phone call],” added Mourinho
“At least now the referees know, they know one thing. If, in a controversial – I’m not saying a mistake – decision that hypothetically – and, I repeat, hypothetically – favors Chelsea, they know they are going to be publicly exposed by their boss. That they know.
“They can make, hypothetically, mistakes, favoring other teams, nothing happens’’.