The Manchester United referee against Wolves, the video assistant referee, resigned after an Andre Onana penalty was fouled

The referee and video assistant referees (VARs) involved in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Monday have been excluded from refereeing matches this weekend after failing to award a penalty late in the game.

PGMOL, the body responsible for refereeing matches in England, has resigned referee Simon Hooper, video assistant referee Michael Salisbury and assistant video referee Richard West after officials failed to award Wolves a penalty following a collision between United goalkeeper Andre Onana and opposition striker Sassa Kalajdzic.

The two players collided in United’s penalty area in second half extra time as Onana attempted to claim a cross. The 27-year-old, who joined Erik ten Hag’s side from Inter Milan this summer, did not suffer an initial penalty for a challenge by Hooper.

The incident was examined by VAR but Hooper was not ordered to consult the monitor. Wolves coach Gary O’Neill also received a yellow card from Hooper for his protests after the incident.

After the match, O’Neill said former Premier League referee Jon Moss – now director of Select Group 1 at PGMOL – admitted the decision was incorrect.

“I was told live that they didn’t think it was a clear and obvious foul, but after I had just spoken to Jonathan Moss – and fair play with him for coming out live – he apologized and said it was a flagrant penalty and should have been given,” O’Neill said.

“Fair play to Jonathan for coming out and saying it was a foul, plain and clear; unbelievable that the referee on the pitch didn’t give it and can’t believe the VAR didn’t intervene.”

PGMOL’s decision to drop three match referees this weekend is part of an attempted shift towards greater accountability for officials under Howard Webb, which includes reporting errors to clubs.

Wolves received a number of apologies from Webb last season and saw them not allow a win in the FA Cup third round against Liverpool because VAR did not have the correct images to judge offside angle.

O’Neill told reporters earlier: “I thought it was a penalty kick. I thought the goalkeeper almost raised the head of our striker… When I watch him again it’s like that. Really, really amazed.”

“I think it’s a foul. When you go to the ball and hit an attacking player that hard, I think it must be a foul. I’m not too surprised we didn’t quite get it, frankly.

“As he (Hopper) was running towards us, I thought maybe he’s going to the screen but it turns out he’s booking me and not Onana.”

United manager Ten Hag admitted the decision not to award a penalty could be discussed but in the end the right call was made.

“After the opponent touched the ball, he jumped on it, so it was the referee’s decision and we were unlucky that there was no penalty,” the 53-year-old told reporters. “I guess you can discuss it but I guess there is no penalty.”

United secured a 1-0 win thanks to a Raphael Varane header in the second half. The match was O’Neill’s first in charge of Wolves, having been appointed as successor to Julen Lopetegui just five days earlier.

United return to action on Saturday night when they travel to Tottenham, while Wolverhampton host Brighton at Molineux earlier in the day.

(Photo: Getty Images)