Michael Oliver dropped from PL fixtures amid scrutiny over Man City-linked payments
Michael Oliver has been left out of this weekend’s Premier League referee appointments, drawing renewed attention to his paid refereeing work in the United Arab Emirates in 2023 following Manchester City’s financial-rule verdict.
Premier League referee Michael Oliver has been omitted from the officials’ appointments for this weekend’s fixtures, a decision that has attracted attention amid renewed scrutiny over payments to English referees for officiating matches in the United Arab Emirates.
Oliver’s absence comes shortly after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial regulations covering a nine-season period.
The timing has prompted questions about Oliver’s previous refereeing assignment in the UAE, although there is currently no evidence that his omission from this weekend’s appointments is connected to the City case or the payments he received for officiating abroad.
Michael Oliver’s UAE assignment under renewed scrutiny
In 2023, Michael Oliver travelled to the UAE to referee a Pro League match between Sharjah and Al-Ain. He was accompanied by fellow English officials, including Darren England, Dan Cook and Stuart Burt.
The assignment attracted further attention because of the connections between Abu Dhabi and Manchester City. City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak has held a role with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which is linked to the UAE Pro League’s sponsorship landscape.
Oliver’s trip has also been discussed in connection with the controversial disallowing of a Luis Díaz goal during Liverpool’s Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur in September 2023. England and Cook were involved in the VAR operation that failed to correct the incorrect offside decision.
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acknowledged the error, and the officials involved were subsequently stood down. However, Howard Webb, the organisation’s chief refereeing officer, said no link had been found between the UAE trip and the mistake.
No confirmed link to latest omission
Michael Oliver had officiated in every round of Premier League fixtures so far this season before being left out of the latest appointments.
Referee assignments are routinely rotated, meaning an absence from a particular weekend does not, on its own, establish that an official has been disciplined or removed because of a controversy.
No official explanation has been given linking his omission to the payments for his UAE work or Manchester City’s financial case and no evidence links the two cases, but the timing is what makes it more intriguing.
Manchester City, meanwhile, continues to challenge the commission’s findings. The club’s appeal and the separate process to determine any punishment remain significant developments in a case that has placed the Premier League’s financial regulations under intense scrutiny.
