Premier League Referee Demoted amid Euro 2024 Controversy in Netherlands vs France Game

• A Premier League referee has been demoted to UEFA's second list of officials for next season following his performances in the 2023/2024 season
• Craig Pawson was found culpable of issuing a number of controversial decisions which saw him lose his place in the First List of the UEFA officials
• The changes come at a time when Anthony Taylor came under scrutiny for disallowing a Netherlands goal against France at Euro 2024

The Premier League has made some changes to the statuses of its referees, which will form part of the updated roster of the upcoming season in UEFA assignments.

Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver remain the only two English referees in the elite list. Coincidentally, these were the only two referees from England who were selected for centre-pitch duties at Euro 2024.

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UEFA has categorised the referees into Elite, First and Second Lists. The Elite referees are often the go-to to officiate at the big matches and big tournaments.

The major change from this season's list is the relegation of Craig Pawson from the First List to the Second List. His place has been taken by John Brooks.

According to data collated by ESPN, Brooks was the referee who averaged the best stats in the Premier League last season. His only major error was the failure to overturn a Chelsea penalty against Burnley in March in what looked like a dive by Mykhailo Mudryk.

Another Chelsea game also contributed to the stats after Pawson controversially disallowed a late Chelsea winner away to Aston Villa for an alleged push on Diego Carlos before the goal. Pawson was also the referee who was sent to the monitor the most number of times and had his decision overturned by VAR.

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England has only two referees in the Elite List, which is less compared to other leagues like Italy, Germany, Spain and France, who have three.

Full UEFA list of Premier League referees.

Elite- Michael Oliver, Anthony Taylor

First -John Brooks, Chris Kavanagh

Second - Stuart Attwell, Darren England, Jarred Gillett, Rob Jones, Andy Madley, Craig Pawson

Why Netherlands' goal vs France at Euro 2024 was disallowed

The changes came amid Euro 2024 controversy, where Taylor disallowed a Netherlands goal against France.

Xavi Simmons thought he had fired the Oranje ahead, but his goal was chalked off after Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to be interfering with play from an offside position.

Dutch captain Virgil Van Dijk tore into Taylor for making the decision, making a subtle dig with the statement 'the English referee'.