Top News

Anthony Taylor has accused former referees who have moved into punditry of heaping criticism on their old colleagues and contributing to the “culture of fear” surrounding officiating.

Taylor stepped away after refereeing at this summer’s World Cup, with the 47-year-old official from Manchester bringing the curtain down on a distinguished 20-year career in which he handled 831 matches.

After being promoted to the Premier League in 2010, Taylor went on to officiate at four major tournaments and also took charge of every major cup final.

He has now started a new job as director of elite refereeing with the Turkish Football Federation, and said he wants to support Turkish football as it deals with its continuing referee betting scandal.

In choosing this next step in his career, Taylor decided not to move into the media unlike some of his fellow referees. Mark Clattenburg and Mike Dean are among the best-known former Premier League officials to become pundits, while Graham Scott has taken up a role as a columnist with The Athletic.

Although Taylor did not mention anyone by name, he acknowledged that with media attention on referees already “off the scale”, it is unhelpful when referees themselves also criticise others in the profession.

Asked in an interview with BBC Sport whether it disappoints him when criticism comes from former officials, he said: "Yes, it does personally, because it doesn't have any balance to it a lot of the time.

"It's just part of the focus that comes with football. When we're dealing with supposedly objective analysis of matches, whether that be an expert ex-player in a studio or an ex-referee, that should be balanced and fair.

"If it's all one-sided criticism, that creates a culture of fear, disrespect, shame.

"There's a thirst for people to be told: 'Is the decision right or wrong?' And the reality in football is there's a lot of subjectivity and opinion in the middle of right and wrong. But that's not acceptable a lot of the time now."

Taylor admitted that the “constant” scrutiny was “part” of the reason behind his sudden retirement, even though he has stayed away from social media in an effort to avoid exactly that.

He now believes his qualities are better used elsewhere rather than in the media.

"I would never feel like I would be wanting to be in a place where I want to criticise somebody, because I'd like to think I've got a very good understanding of why somebody's made a decision that they've made,” he added.

"Of course, a wrong decision can be made. Nobody really chooses to understand the reasoning why.

"I feel my skills and my passion are better suited to trying to pass on that knowledge and experience I've been lucky enough to accumulate over the years."