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Referee drops out of Premier League action after Man City and Pep Guardiola complaints
Reach Daily Express | January 27, 2026 10:40 PM CST

Premier League official Farai Hallam will not be taking charge of any top-flight matches this weekend. The official was the man in the middle for Manchester City's victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The 32-year-old made himself known with one of the most contentious penalty calls of the season so far. Hallam was summoned to the pitch-side monitor when Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera blocked the ball with his arm after Omar Marmoush tried to chop the ball past him. After being told to examine the replay, Hallam surprised everybody when he stuck with his initial decision of no penalty, maintaining the Wolves defender's arm was in a 'natural' position. The rare act shocked everybody at the Etihad Stadium, none more so than Pep Guardiola.

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Addressing the 53,000-strong crowd, Hallam said: "After review, the ball hits the arm of the Wolves player, which is in a natural position, so the on-field decision will remain."

The controversy had minimal impact on the final outcome, as goals from Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo secured a comfortable victory. However, for this weekend's matches, Hallam's name does not appear as a referee, assistant, fourth official, VAR or assistant VAR official.

It's unlikely this has anything to do with his controversial decision, though, because the Premier League often leaves a period of time between an official's Premier League debut and their second match. For example, referee Tom Kirk had to wait a month for his second Premier League match.

This will be little consolation for Guardiola, and he may still be angry with the decision. After the match, the Catalan said: "The player's arm is out from his body. The ref made a huge debut... so now everyone will know him, but it's okay. It's the first time they go to a TV and disallowed what is a 'normal' position of the arms." He also took aim at PGMOL chief Howard Webb, stating: "I'm waiting for a phone call to explain why it wasn't a penalty."

The result proved crucial for Guardiola's star-studded squad, particularly following Arsenal's 3-2 away loss to Manchester United. City closed the gap to just four points behind the Premier League table-toppers with 15 fixtures remaining.

The win also brought an end to City's four-match winless streak in the Premier League, which included draws against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion, followed by their derby defeat to United the previous week.

They welcome Galatasaray to the Etihad Stadium for a pivotal Champions League encounter, before making the trip to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and hosting Newcastle United in the second-leg of their League Cup semi-final.


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